Federal court reports
Mar. 24—Raleigh County resident sentenced to nearly four years for federal drug crime
beckley, w.va. — Treyvon Pankey, 22, of Bluefield, was sentenced Friday to three years and 10 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing methamphetamine.
According to court records, Pankey sold approximately 27 grams of methamphetamine on Feb. 17, 2022, to a confidential informant at a Beckley residence. Pankey admitted to the transaction and also admitted to selling approximately 44 grams of methamphetamine and an AR-15, .223-caliber semi-automatic rifle to a confidential informant at a Beckley residence on March 8, 2022.
On June 8, 2022, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at a Beckley residence where Pankey was staying. Officers found fentanyl, a digital scale, and a Glock model 41, .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol. Pankey admitted to officers that he possessed the firearm and had been selling approximately 3.5 grams of methamphetamine daily from Jan. 22, 2022, until his arrest on June 8, 2022. Pankey further admitted that he sold approximately 3.5 grams of cocaine base, also known as "crack," daily for an unknown period of time.
----Raleigh resident sentenced for role in Beckley-to-Philadelphia firearms trafficking
beckley, w.va. — Sequoyah Swain, 22, of Beckley, was sentenced Friday to five years of federal probation for her role in a conspiracy to traffic over 140 firearms from the Beckley area to Philadelphia, Pa.
According to court records, Swain admitted to recruiting straw purchasers to obtain firearms for a trafficking conspiracy led by Bisheem Jones, also known as "Bosh," 37, of Philadelphia. Between early 2020 and mid-2021, Jones and his co-conspirators obtained over 140 firearms purchased in the Beckley area which they took back to Philadelphia to sell for profit. Approximately 45 of the trafficked firearms have been recovered at crime scenes primarily in Philadelphia and have been connected to two homicides, crimes of domestic violence, and other violent offenses.
Jones paid Swain with drugs and money to recruit straw purchasers. Swain also acted as an intermediary for Jones by accompanying straw purchasers to Beckley-area stores, telling them which firearms to buy, and taking the purchased firearms to Jones.
Swain pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting another individual in making false statements in acquisition of firearms, for the straw purchase of a Ruger Model Ruger 57, 5.7x28mm 5.7 caliber pistol for Jones in Beckley on April 18, 2021.
Swain is among 18 defendants who pleaded guilty in connection with the firearms trafficking.
