Beckley man pleads guilty to fentanyl crime

BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) — A Raleigh County man pleaded guilty to distribution of fentanyl.

According to court documents, on February 1, 2023, Derrick Lee Hodge, 35, of Beckley, sold a substance that had fentanyl in it and sold it to an undercover officer at a hotel in Beckley.

Hodge said he meant to do the transaction and further admitted to selling more substances with fentanyl to an undercover officer in Beckley on two separate occasions. Once on January 26, 2023 and January 31, 2023.

On February 2, 2023, a search by officers was performed where they found and took a small bag of cocaine, digital scales with a purple substance, plastic bags, $347, and a Ruger Model EC9S 9mm semi-automatic handgun in his Hodge’s Beckley hotel room. Hodge then admitted he was selling drugs out of that hotel room and that the gun was his.

Hodge is scheduled to be sentenced on August 2, 2024, faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, at least three years of supervised release, and a $1 million fine.

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