AM Stone | WVOW News
LOGAN A Logan man is going away to prison for more than a decade for his involvement in trafficking drugs.
On Friday, April nineteenth, 30-year-old Christopher Hairston was sentenced for charges of conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine and possession with intent to deliver meth.
Hairston is just the first to be sentenced following the arrests of six people in December 2023. Authorities applied for and obtained a multiple wiretap and electronic surveillance orders in accordance with the West Virginia Wiretapping and Electronic Survaillance Act. Law enforcement monitored Hairston's phone line and Facebook account. The wire tapping investigation netted approximately twenty pounds of drugs, multiple firearms and around fifteen thousand dollars cash.
Hairston pleaded guilty but Circuit Court Judge Kelly Gilmore Codispotti did not follow the pea agreement when sentencing Hairston. Logan County Prosecuting Attorney David Wandling told WVOW News the sentencing is a clear message to anyone dealing drugs.
“What the judge did was impose the maximum sentence,” Wandling said of the conspiracy, “which was for ten years instead of the nine we had agreed to.”
The plea agreement that was reached also came with no less than one year and no more that fifteen years for possession with intent to deliver meth. The plea allowed for the sentences to be served concurrently, however Judge Codispotti ruled the sentences will be served consecutively.
“I think she was pretty clear,” Wandling continued. “She was sending a message to others who want to behave like Mr. Hairston has behaved. Who want to, for profit, bring illegal substances like fentanyl and methamphetamine in Logan County to sale.”
Wandling issued a statement after the sentencing and said the tireless work of law enforcement removed the large quantities of drugs from the streets in this investigation.
“This investigation demonstrates that we will use all of the resources at our diposal, including new investigative techniques, against those who bring drugs into Logan County,” Wandling said.
The wiretap investigation is a first of it’s kind investigation in Logan County, according to Wandling.
PHOTO | SWRJA