MONONGALIA COUNTY, W.Va. –A Michigan man will serve the rest of his life in prison for his role as the head of a multi-state drug operation that operated in parts of Morgantown and Fairmont.
United States Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia Matt Harvey announced at a press conference Wednesday morning that LaShawn Monroe, 31, of Detroit, was sentenced to life in prison for his leading role in an operation that stored over 45 pounds of various drugs in a Fairmont stash house and trafficked across various parts of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
Harvey was joined by representatives from the Pittsburgh field office of the FBI as well as the DEA, the ATF, the West Virginia State Police, the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office, the Monongalia County Prosecutor’s Office, and multiple municipal agencies that took part in an over six-month-long investigation that ended in a seizure in 2025.
“We stand here today, amongst other members of our law enforcement community, to announce that LaShawn Monroe, a major drug dealer, was sentenced to life yesterday,” said Harvey. “LaShawn Monroe was a drug dealer from Detroit, Michigan, and he targeted the communities of West Virginia.”
According to Harvey, Monroe was arrested after an investigation involving officials with the Mon Metro Drug Task Force, the Three Rivers Drug Task Force, the West Virginia State Police, the Morgantown Police Department, the Granville Police Department, and the West Virginia University Police Department.
The investigation later found that Monroe had couriers transport drugs via commercial trucking to deliver drugs from parts of California and Michigan to stash in an empty Fairmont home.
As part of the seizure, Monroe was found to be in possession of over 20 pounds of fentanyl, 21 pounds of methamphetamine, around four pounds of different forms of cocaine, and over 412 grams of heroin. This totaled at around $812,000, making it the largest single seizure of drugs in the history of the North Central West Virginia region.
“This is including 21.5 pounds of methamphetamine, 2.5 pounds of crack cocaine, 2.2 pounds of powder cocaine, and 412 grams of heroin,” said Harvey.
Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia Zelda Wesley confirmed on Wednesday that seven other people were arrested as part of this operation. This included four people that were charged on a state level as part of the stash house in Marion County as well as two people charged in Monongalia County for their role in the operation in Morgantown.
A courier was also charged after being caught transporting fentanyl en route from California to eventually be sold on the open market if not arrested. Everyone associated with Monroe’s operation was arrested after an investigation that included detailed surveillance over the course of several months.
“There were two people arrested in Mon County and four in Marion, and there was a courier who was stopped in Detroit coming from California,” said Wesley. “(A courier) who had two kilograms (of drugs).”
Harvey affirmed towards the end of the press conference that criminals caught running similar operations within the Mountain State will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
This will include collaborations with drug task forces from across the region as well as federal offices from around Ohio and Pennsylvania, who also took part in the investigation.
With enough fentanyl seized to kill over 4 million people, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of West Virginia aims to continue to use all avenues to keep similar operations from taking place in the state.
“Our office and our law enforcement partners remain committed to pursuing anyone who brings poison into our communities,” said Harvey. “This is more than a quality-of-life issue in West Virginia, it’s existential to our survival.”