CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — A woman was sentenced on Thursday to nine years in prison for her role in a drug trafficking organization busted through Operation Smoke and Mirrors.
According to court documents, Telisa McCauley, 31, of Charleston, admitted to trying to get methamphetamine from another person, but they were out. The other person said they would give McCauley a discount if they went and got it.
Once McCauley got the meth, the Department of Justice says McCauley was pulled over and law enforcement found seven pounds of mouth.
McCauley was sentenced to nine years behind bars, which will then be followed by five years of supervised release.
“Operation Smoke and Mirrors” is considered the largest drug bust in West Virginia history.
US Attorney Will Thompson said that a federal grand jury returned three indictments charging 30 people for their roles in a drug trafficking organization that dealt large amounts of methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl in the Charleston area. They also charged another 24 people in state criminal complaints.
According to officials, 50 search warrants were obtained after an eight-month-long investigation, and several of those search warrants were executed in the last 48 hours, including Wednesday morning.
They seized more than 200 pounds of methamphetamine along with 28 pounds of cocaine, 20 pounds of fentanyl, 18 firearms, and $747,000 in cash.
The operation included the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT), the West Virginia State Police, the West Virginia National Guard Counter Drug program, the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, the Charleston Police Department, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Office.
MDENT includes the Charleston Police Department, the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, the Nitro Police Department, the St. Albans Police Department and the South Charleston Police Department.
Those charged include Antonio Lamar Jeffries, 34, and Michael Allen Roberts, Jr., 40, both of St. Albans; Karl Lamont Funderburk, 37, of Hurricane, Mark Leslie Lively, 56, of Kenna; Scott Jeremy Savage, 46, of Nitro; Ryan Keith Kincaid, 46, of South Charleston; Todd Tyler Snead, 57, of Waynesboro, Virginia; and Tres Avery Davis, 34, Telisa Rene McCauley, 31, Deayria Eyshay Willis, 24, John Paul Loudermilk, 60, Timothy Allen Loudermilk, 64, Keith Royal Goode-Harper, 31, Nicole Leigh Fierbaugh, 44, Latesha Lashae Nappier, 29, Jeremy Rayshad Walker, 34, Charles Norman Pannell, 43, and Les Van Bumpus, 34, all of Charleston.
