Bluefield Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug Crime
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of West Virginia announced that Devon Basil Blankenship, 28, of Bluefield, West Virginia, pleaded guilty on October 20, 2026, to possession with the intent to distribute 5 grams or more of methamphetamine.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on June 13, 2023, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Blankenship's residence and seized 443 grams of methamphetamine. As part of his guilty plea, Blankenship admitted that he possessed the seized methamphetamine and intended to distribute it.
Blankenship is scheduled to be sentenced on March 8, 2027, and faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 40 years in prison, at least four years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $5 million. Co-defendant Landon Joseph Cartwright, 23, of Bluefield, was sentenced on April 13, 2026, to one year and six months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting the distribution of methamphetamine. United States Attorney Moore Capito made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the FBI and the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force. Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber presided over the hearing, and Assistant United States Attorney Brian D. Parsons is prosecuting the case.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Charleston 的 Charleston Federal Center 联邦办公大楼（资料图），来源 Wikimedia Commons / Library of Congress，公共领域
