(Court Reports - Photo Illustration/MetroCreativeConnection)

CHARLESTON — Catra Nelson, also known as “Trey,” 48, of Zanesville, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and aiding and abetting the distribution of 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from at least January 2020 to around March 2021, Nelson conspired with co-defendant Steven Reger and others to distribute quantities of methamphetamine in the Parkersburg area.

On March 23, 2021, Nelson aided and abetted in the sale of approximately 428.1 grams of methamphetamine to a confidential informant in Parkersburg, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.

Nelson is scheduled to be sentenced on July 24 and faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison, five years of supervised release and a $10 million fine.

Reger, 48, of Morgantown, was sentenced in 2023 to five years and three months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting the distribution of 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.

Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa G. Johnston commended the investigative work of the FBI and the Parkersburg Violent Crime and Narcotics Task Force.

U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston presided over the hearing. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeremy B. Wolfe, Joshua Hanks and Negar M. Kordestani are prosecuting the case.