Hampshire County Man Admits to Fentanyl Trafficking

ELKINS, WEST VIRGINIA - An Augusta, West Virginia man has admitted to selling fentanyl in an Elkins, West Virginia business parking lot, U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey announced today.

Johnny Foster Biggs, 47, pleaded guilty today to distribution of fentanyl analogue. According to court documents, Biggs sold 3.339 grams of a fentanyl mixture to someone in a business parking lot.

As a part of the plea agreement, Biggs agreed to forfeit a pistol and ammunition associated with this case. Biggs faces up to 30 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Warner is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Mountain Region Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative.

Fentanyl has been designated by President Donald Trump as a weapon of mass destruction due to its extreme lethality which poses a grave threat to public safety, even in trace amounts. This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime, and repel the invasion of illegal immigration.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael John Aloi presided.