Suspects indicted in a federal drug case were picked up around the Eastern Panhandle today, Thursday, November 30, as officers from multiple police agencies swept the region following the unsealing of a grand jury indictment. Five of the 26 individuals named in the case are Berkeley Springs residents. 
Twenty-six people were indicted by a federal grand jury for the distribution of methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, according to United States Attorney William Ihlenfeld.
Individuals from Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia were charged with drug trafficking in an indictment unsealed today. According to court documents, Dorian Scott Burks, also known as “Cash,” 28, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, supplied methamphetamine to Andrew Ross Hose, 54, of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. Hose and others redistributed methamphetamine, as well as with fentanyl and cocaine, in Hampshire, Morgan, and Berkeley Counties. During the investigation, officers seized drugs, firearms, and United States currency.
“The supply of drugs from Pittsburgh to the Eastern Panhandle has been disrupted thanks to the excellent work of the Potomac Highlands Drug Task Force,” said U.S. Attorney Ihlenfeld. “Law enforcement will continue to use every tool available to pursue and to prosecute out-of-town dealers who operate for profit in West Virginia.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Omps-Botteicher is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government.
The Potomac Highlands Drug Task Force consists of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the West Virginia State Police, the Hampshire County Sheriff’s Office, the Mineral County Sheriff’s Office, the Hardy County Sheriff’s Office, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, and the Keyser Police Department. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Berkeley County and Hampshire County Prosecuting Attorney’s Offices assisted.
Those indicted are:
–Dorian Scott Burks, also known as “Cash,” 28, of Verona, Pa.,
–Andrew Ross Hose, 54, of Berkeley Springs,
–John William Malcolm, 56, of Huntington,
–Alexis Mary Walsh, 29, of Verona, Pa.,
–Stephen Michael Leeper, also known as “Pee Wee,” 59, of High View,
–Andrew Scott Sager, 54, of Berkeley Springs,
–Teresa Danielle Pyles, also known as “Tree,” 29, of Romney,
–Whitney Lynn Mathias, 34, of Cross Junction, Va.,
–Hailey Lynn Oliff, 27, of Keyser,
–Marilynn Hope Baker, 26, of Shanks,
–Michael Lee Ramsbottom, 67, of Berkeley Springs,
–Shaylyn Boutilier, 32, of Romney,
–James Palmer Hodge, also known as “Jimmy,” 52, of Shanks,
–Gary Lee Whetzel, 61, of Berkeley Springs,
–Phyllis Susan Forbes, 37, of Romney,
–Sathira Ewers, 41, of Purgitsville,
–Lance Reed King, 48, of Berkeley Springs,
–Bobby Dillon, 38, of Hedgesville,
–Michael Steven Manzie, 37, of Cross Junction, Va.,
–Bradley Allen Lopp, 34, of Bunker Hill,
–Jacobe Wesley Goforth, 29, of Martinsburg,
–Eric Keith Turner, 37, of Winchester, Va.,
–Kyle Andrew Sensel, 23, of Falling Waters,
–Amy Nicole Mayhew, 35, of Falling Waters,
–Kelly Mills, 34, of Middletown, Va.,
–Lottie Broadway, 23, of Martinsburg.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and each defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
