Charleston Man and Woman Plead Guilty to Fentanyl Crime

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Kenneth Desaun Hayway, 38, and Hannah Elizabeth Barbee, 30, both of Charleston, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to distribute 40 grams or more of a mixture containing a detectable amount of fentanyl.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Hayway sold fentanyl to a confidential informant asking for heroin on August 15, 2022, and August 19, 2022, in Charleston. Hayway further admitted to organizing the sale of fentanyl with Barbee and co-defendant Khalif Marquee Coleman to a confidential informant seeking heroin on August 19, 2022, at Barbee’s Chesterfield Avenue residence in Charleston.

Barbee admitted to selling fentanyl to a confidential informant seeking heroin on six occasions between August 5, 2022, and September 27, 2022, at her Chesterfield Avenue residence. On September 28, 2022, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Barbee’s residence and found mixtures containing fentanyl totaling 55.97 grams, scales, drug packaging materials, and $5,926. Some of the cash recovered during the search was prerecorded buy money from the sales to the confidential informants.

Hayway and Barbee are scheduled to be sentenced on June 15, 2023, and face a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 40 years in prison, four years of supervised release, and a $5 million fine.

Coleman, 35, of Charleston, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 40 grams or more of a mixture containing a detectable amount of fentanyl on February 22, 2022. Coleman is scheduled to be sentenced on June 8, 2023, and faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 40 years in prison, four years of supervised release, and a $5 million fine.

United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT), and the assistance provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Mid-Atlantic Laboratory.

United States District Judge Irene C. Berger presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Julie M. White is prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:22-cr-198.

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