BECKLEY, W.Va. – A Tennessee man was sentenced today to five years and 10 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for the distribution of fentanyl.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Mario Lavonta Ward, 47, of Memphis, admitted that he sold a quantity of fentanyl to a confidential informant for $200 near Beckley on June 8, 2021. Ward further admitted that on that same date, officers executed a search warrant at the residence where the drug transaction had occurred and found additional quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine, a firearm, and $6,500 in cash. The cash recovered included the $200 used by the confidential informant to purchase the fentanyl.