(Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection - Court Reports)

CHARLESTON — A Parkersburg man was sentenced Monday to five years in prison on a federal charge of distributing methamphetamine.

Aaron Lee Mitter, 39, must also serve five years of supervised release, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.

Court documents and statements made in court indicate Mitter sold approximately 24.52 grams of methamphetamine to a confidential informant in exchange for $280 in July 2024, the release said. As part of his guilty plea, Mitter admitted to the transaction and to selling an unregistered, privately made firearm, commonly known as a “ghost gun,” and a magazine capable of holding 45 rounds of ammunition that day for $400, it said.

On July 17, 2024, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at a Parkersburg apartment where Mitter was staying and seized approximately 45.67 grams of meth. Mitter admitted that he intended to use some of the meth and distribute the rest, the release said.

Mitter has a criminal history that includes prior convictions for domestic battery, breaking and entering, burglary, and theft.

Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa G. Johnston commended the investigative work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Wood County Sheriff’s Office; and the Parkersburg Police Department.

U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin imposed the sentence. Assistant U.S. Attorney J.C. MacCallum prosecuted the case.