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Parkersburg man receives prison sentence in federal meth case

CHARLESTON — A Parkersburg man prosecuted under the Project Parkersburg initiative was sentenced to 10 years in a federal prison.

The prison term for Michael Rhodes, 41, will be followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, United States Attorney Mike Stuart said.

Rhodes had pleaded guilty and admitted to distributing methamphetamine in and around Parkersburg, Sguart said.

At the sentencing hearing on Thursday, United States District Judge Irene C. Berger noted Rhodes had traveled from Parkersburg to Arizona and California in 2018 and records showed calls and money transfers from Parkersburg to Sinaloa, Mexico, Stuart said.

The court also found Rhodes received methamphetamine in one- and two-pound quantities at a time from co-defendant Terrance McGuirk and further noted Rhodes’ intercepted communications revealed he owed $80,000 to his supplier and that he was distributing user and low-level dealer quantities of methamphetamine to people in Parkersburg, Stuart said.

Rhodes was prosecuted under Project Parkersburg, a major takedown and dismantling of a poly-drug, multi-state drug trafficking organization.

“Project Parkersburg was a huge success,” Stuart said. “As a result of this lengthy investigation, a major DTO responsible for distributing significant amounts of methamphetamine in and around Parkersburg was shut down. At least 29 individuals were charged in federal and state court and 121 pounds of ICE methamphetamine, six kilograms of cocaine, 217 grams of heroin and 478 grams of fentanyl were seized.”

Stuart cited the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Parkersburg Police Department, the Dayton Police Department and the Parkersburg Narcotics and Violent Crime Task Force.

Of the defendants charged in federal court, McGuirk, Todd Land, Jeffrey Hoyler, Nicholas Easton, T.J. Gibson, Edward Marks, Amy Rake, Marshall Polan, Troy Pastorino, Michael Holley, Colleen Moyle, Amanda Atkinson and Michael Rhodes have been sentenced and Aurelius Edmonds awaits sentencing later this year, Stuart said.

Berger imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorneys Joshua Hanks and Jeremy Wolfe are handling the prosecution.

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