Kenney

Woman who allegedly concealed heroin stamps charged with transporting drugs into state

BUCKHANNON – A Pennsylvania woman was arrested Thursday after police allegedly found a little less than a brick of heroin concealed on her person.

Samantha E. Kenney, 21, of Coraopolis, Pa., was arrested Dec. 9 on three felony charges: possession with intent to deliver heroin, transporting controlled substances into the state of West Virginia and unlawful possession of fentanyl.

According to the criminal complaint filed in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office by investigating officer Sgt. Marshall O’Connor with the Buckhannon Police Department, on Dec. 9, at approximately 3:30 a.m., BPD officers Sgt. William Courtney and Sgt. Tom Pose spotted a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed on U.S. Route 33.

Their radar unit calculated the speed of the vehicle at approximately 78 miles per hour in a 65 miles per hour zone, and a traffic stop was initiated on the vehicle, according to the report.

While Posey checked the status of the driver’s license, Courtney instructed K-9 Officer Erros to perform a free-air sniff around the exterior of the vehicle. During the free-air sniff, the K-9 gave a positive indication for the imprinted odors of controlled substances. A probable cause search of the vehicle was then conducted, which allegedly revealed approximately 1,000 wax paper folds imprinted with the label “Vigilante 13,” which O’Connor recognized as heroin stamps.

Officers found the stamps in a black bag with a blue-and-pink Nike logo, and a field test of the seized substance yielded a possible positive indication for heroin and fentanyl, the police report says.


While speaking with the other two occupants of the vehicle, the other passenger stated he and the driver went somewhere north of Morgantown to pick up Kenney, and Kenney told police she was coming from a friend’s house in Pennsylvania, according to the complaint.

O’Connor told Kenney that if she had any additional controlled substances on her and a correctional officer at a regional jail facility located it, that she would be charged with an additional felony. In response, Kennedy informed O’Connor that she possessed a little less than a brick of heroin (about 50 stamps) concealed on her person in a private location, according to the report.

After a female officer watched Kennedy remove and turn over the additional stamps, O’Connor noticed there were approximately 40 stamps all imprinted with the label “Vigilante 13,” which matched the imprint on the stamps located in the Nike bag.

Upshur County Magistrate Alan Suder set bail at $100,000 cash or surety.

The penalty for a conviction of possession with intent to deliver heroin is confinement in a state prison for not less than one year nor more than 15 years, a fine of up to $25,000 or both. Meanwhile, the penalty for transporting illegal controlled substances into the state of West Virginia is confinement in a state penitentiary for not less than one year nor more than 15 years, a fine of not more than $25,000 or both.

Finally, the penalty for a conviction of unlawful possession of fentanyl is imprisonment in a state penitentiary for not less than two, but not more than 10 years.

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