Franklin Fitzgerald Elly, also known as “Costco,” a 36-year-old from Detroit, Michigan, was sentenced in Charleston, West Virginia, to 11 years and 10 months in federal prison. He will also serve five years of supervised release for his role in a fentanyl distribution conspiracy.
Court records show that between May and July 2025, Elly worked with co-defendant Eric Jaeshon Ray and others to distribute fentanyl in the St. Albans area of Kanawha County. During this period, Elly helped Ray sell fentanyl to a confidential informant on four occasions. Authorities determined that Elly was responsible for distributing over 500 grams of fentanyl.
Elly’s criminal record includes previous convictions for drug offenses in Michigan and Indiana as well as for drug crimes and firearm possession violations in West Virginia. At the time of the current offense, he was on parole.
Elly and Ray were among 16 people indicted after a federal investigation into fentanyl and methamphetamine distribution in the Charleston area from June 2024 to May 2025. Six co-defendants pleaded guilty under the main indictment. Elly and Ray are among four others who entered guilty pleas in related cases. Ray, also known as “Brody,” received an eight-year-and-one-month sentence with four years of supervised release for his involvement in the same conspiracy. The charges against other defendants remain pending; indictments are allegations until proven otherwise.
“Franklin Fitzgerald Elly is a career criminal who has sold drugs in West Virginia and two other states. He has committed three of his drug-dealing crimes, including this one, while on parole or probation for a prior drug-related conviction,” said United States Attorney Moore Capito. “As today’s sentence shows, this office and our law enforcement partners are determined to go after those who seek to harm our communities to the maximum extent the law allows.”
Capito credited the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT) with their investigative efforts. MDENT includes officers from several local police departments: Charleston Police Department, Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, Nitro Police Department, St. Albans Police Department, and South Charleston Police Department.
United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin imposed the sentence while Assistant United States Attorney Jeremy B. Wolfe prosecuted the case.
The prosecution is part of Operation Take Back America—a national initiative by the Department of Justice aimed at combating illegal immigration, dismantling cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and addressing violent crime across communities.
Additional information about this case can be found through PACER by searching Case No. 2:25-cr-128 on the U.S. Attorney’s Office website for the Southern District of West Virginia.
