Three Sentenced in Fentanyl Drug Trafficking Operation in Eastern Panhandle

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA - Three more have been sentenced for their roles in a drug trafficking organization.

The indictment, returned in January 2024 charged 82 defendants, including Gary Brown, Jr., for their roles in an organization that was selling substantial amounts of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine in Berkeley and Jefferson Counties.

Those sentenced this week include:

• Bradley David Welsh, age 53, of Boonsboro, Maryland, was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison.
• David Lewis Pennington, Jr., age 21, of Huntington, West Virginia, was sentenced to 87 months.
• Lynn Wood Campbell, age 45, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, was sentenced to 84 months in prison.

Of the 82 defendants, 81 have been convicted. Including this week's three, 77 defendants have been sentenced. Brown, Jr. was sentenced to 327 months in federal prison in May 2025.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lara Omps-Botteicher and Kyle Kane prosecuted the cases on behalf of the government.

U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided.

Investigative agencies include the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Pittsburgh Field Division and Baltimore Field Division); the Drug Enforcement Administration; the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations; the United States Postal Inspection Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the United States Marshals Service; the Eastern Panhandle Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative; the West Virginia State Police; the West Virginia Air National Guard; the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office; the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office; Ranson Police Department; Martinsburg Police Department; Charles Town Police Department; the Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney's Office; Stafford County Sheriff's Office (Virginia); Frederick County Sheriff's Office (Maryland); Frederick County Sheriff's Office (Virginia); Winchester Police Department; and the Clarke County Sheriff's Office (Virginia).

This investigation is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

Find the original case press release here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndwv/pr/investigators-dismantle-fentanyl-drug-trafficking-network-eastern-panhandle