Operation Second Wave Update: Columbus Man Pleads Guilty to Methamphetamine Conspiracy

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Columbus, Ohio man pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Rashawn Akmed Miller, 37, was one of 14 defendants charged as a result of a long-term investigation known as “Second Wave,” which dismantled a poly-drug network operating in Kanawha and Fayette counties.

According to the plea agreement and statements made in court, Miller brokered a deal between a Columbus, Ohio supplier and Jason Michael Terrell along with Roger Jarea Drake.  Terrell and Drake traveled from Kanawha County to Columbus where Miller introduced them to the supplier who sold them approximately two pounds of methamphetamine.  Terrell and Drake returned to West Virginia where they distributed the methamphetamine.

Miller faces between five and forty years in prison when he is sentenced on July 27, 2021.

Other defendants, including Carol Belton, Jimmie Coleman, Sammy Joe Fragale, Sr., Sammy Joe Fragale II, Larry Martin, and Jason Terrell have pled guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Gregory Woods was sentenced to 184 months in federal prison on February 8, 2021.  Steven Matthew Bumpus, Roger Jarea Drake, Craig Redman, Tonya Simerly, and Ronald Lee Thomas III are scheduled for trial on June 1, 2021.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central West Virginia Drug Task Force (CWVDTF), the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department, the Charleston Police Department, the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT) conducted the investigation with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), who led the investigation of Sammy Joe Fragale, Sr., and Sammy Joe Fragale II, also prosecuted as part of the Second Wave investigation. Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Joshua C. Hanks is handling the prosecution. 

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case Nos. 2:21-cr-00045 (Miller), 2:20-cr-00153 (Woods), and 2:20-cr-00154 (Terrell et al).

Original Article: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdwv/pr/operation-second-wave-update-columbus-man-pleads-guilty-methamphetamine-conspiracy