Heroin Trafficker Sentenced to Federal Prison

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Kanawha County woman was sentenced to federal prison for a heroin trafficking crime, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart.  Valerie Ramey, 42, of Hernshaw, was sentenced to 72 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute heroin.

“Ramey was selling powerful and deadly heroin and fentanyl,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart.  “We are prosecuting drug dealers with a sense of urgency like never before.  Too many lives have been lost.  The poison peddlers have to be held accountable.”

Ramey previously admitted that between May 30, 2017 and November 17, 2017, she participated in a conspiracy with her co-defendant, Curtis Watson, also known as “Low,” to distribute heroin in and around Hernshaw, West Virginia.

Beginning in 2015, Watson would typically deliver at least five grams of heroin to Ramey at her residence in Hernshaw approximately every two days. Ramey would store and sell the heroin out of her residence and transferred the proceeds of her drugs sales to Watson.

In furtherance of the conspiracy, on May 30, 2017 and June 8, 2017, Ramey distributed a quantity of heroin to a confidential informant working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. On August 1, 2017, Ramey distributed a quantity of fentanyl to a confidential informant working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the West Virginia State Police Forensic Laboratory, the U.S. 119 Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, and the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department conducted the investigation.  United States District Judge Irene C. Berger presided over the hearing.  Assistant United States Attorney Ryan A. Saunders handled the prosecution.