CLARKSBURG -- Four more suspects charged in a city drug sweep in July have entered pleas. Nearly half of those charged now have entered pleas in federal court.
Pleading Monday were Deon Brewer, 31, of Morgantown; Kevin "Big Kev" Hill, 38, Sammy Lockett, 42, and Willa "Dee Dee" Maxwell, 48, all of Clarksburg.
Each of the four will be required to serve at least one year in prison and could face up to 40 years when they're sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley. The defendants also will face at least six years of supervised release once they get out of prison, Keeley said. And they could be fined.
Lockett pleaded guilty to distribution of crack within 1,000 feet of Clarksburg's Monticello Avenue Playground. Brewer, Hill and Maxwell pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting distribution of crack within 1,000 feet of the same playground. All of their crimes occurred earlier this year.
Keeley also found Brewer in violation of his supervised release. Brewer had been convicted of another drug crime in the 1990s, served prison time for it and began a term of supervised release in 2001, the judge indicated.
Last week, Henry "Chubs" Freeman, 28, Vernon "Boone" Maxwell, 42, James L. Vest, 33, and Truman White, 43, all of Clarksburg, entered pleas in connection with the drug investigation.
Freeman and Vest pleaded to aiding and abetting the distribution of crack and could face up to 20 years in prison. Maxwell and White pleaded to aiding and abetting the distribution of crack within 1,000 feet of the Monticello Avenue Playground and could face up to 40 years in prison.
Seventeen people were charged in the sweep, which involved cooperation among the U.S. Marshal Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Clarksburg Police, Bridgeport Police, the Harrison County Sheriff's Department and the Lewis County Sheriff's Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John C. Parr has been prosecuting the cases on behalf of U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Johnston. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zelda Wesley appeared in place of Parr Monday.
