Christopher Anthony O’Dell, 38, of Hurricane, pleaded guilty to distribution of quantities of methamphetamine and fentanyl in federal court on Monday, March 18.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on August 18, 2023, O’Dell sold approximately 1.1 grams fentanyl and 3.5 grams of methamphetamine for $200 to a confidential informant at O’Dell’s Hurricane residence. O’Dell admitted to the transaction and to arranging it beforehand with the confidential informant by text message.
O’Dell further admitted to participating in the DTO with other individuals from November 2022 through November 2023. The DTO participants used a St. Albans residence to store and distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine. O’Dell conducted distributions and transported various individuals from the St. Albans residence to a Ninth Avenue residence in Huntington where they received additional amounts of fentanyl and methamphetamine before O’Dell transported them back to the St. Albans residence.
On August 28, 2023, a law enforcement officer conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle driven by O’Dell in St. Albans. The officer seized approximately 51 grams of fentanyl and two muzzleloading pistols from the vehicle during the traffic stop. O’Dell further admitted to possessing the seized firearms.
O’Dell is scheduled to be sentenced on July 17, 2024. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, at least three years of supervised release, and a $1 million fine.
O’Dell is among 27 individuals indicted in a 53-count indictment charged with distributing methamphetamine and fentanyl transported from Detroit, Michigan, in Huntington and other locations within the Southern District of West Virginia. An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The investigation leading to O’Dell’s arrest and subsequent guilty plea was part of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking organizations, transnational criminal organizations and money laundering organizations that present a significant threat to the public safety, economic, or national security of the United States.
