Jesse Robert Phillips, a 40-year-old resident of Detroit, Michigan, has been sentenced to nine years and seven months in prison. This will be followed by three years of supervised release for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
Court documents reveal that on April 30, 2024, law enforcement responded to a disturbance call at Phillips’ residence in Mount Hope, West Virginia. Officers found four firearms and two bags containing 19.896 grams of fentanyl analogue in his bedroom.
Phillips admitted to possessing the fentanyl with the intention to distribute it. He also confessed to selling fentanyl and using two other residents, Robert Lee Moran and Kayla Nicole Dent, to assist in its distribution while living in West Virginia.
Moran, aged 47 from Mount Hope, received a sentence on June 3, 2025, of nine months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for distributing fentanyl. Dent, aged 34 from Mount Hope, was sentenced to five years of federal probation including six months on home detention after pleading guilty on January 29, 2025.
Phillips’ criminal record includes prior convictions for armed robbery and several drug offenses.
The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston who praised the investigative efforts of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) along with the Beckley/Raleigh County Drug and Violent Crime Unit which includes officers from various local law enforcement agencies.
Chief United States District Judge Frank W. Volk delivered the sentence. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Brian D. Parsons and Alexander A. Redmon.
Further details can be accessed through PACER under Case No. 5:24-cr-142 or via the U.S. Attorney’s Office website for the Southern District of West Virginia.
