West Virginia Man Sentenced to Prison for Reselling Meth

A West Virginia man was sentenced to 120 months in prison after admitting he participated in a conspiracy to resell methamphetamine purchased on the dark web.

According to court records, 29-year-old Van Gregory Barrows, of Bowden, West Virginia was sentenced after he pled guilty to a three-count indictment. Barrows admitted that in addition to reselling methamphetamine purchased on the dark web he unlawfully possessed firearms and ammunition.

Barrows was arrested on November 17, 2017, after investigators from the Department of Homeland Security Investigations and the Pennsylvania State Police executed search warrants at a hotel in Ross Township, Pennsylvania. Barrows and his accomplices were found in the hotel room.

The search resulted in the seizure of an undisclosed quantity of methamphetamine, drug packaging and distribution material, electronic devices, and multiple firearms. Barrows was as a result arrested and taken into custody for questioning.

On being interviewed Barrows allegedly admitted that three of the seized firearms were his and that he was an unlawful user of methamphetamine. He also told the investigators that he purchased large quantities of methamphetamine on an undisclosed dark web marketplace and that he and his accomplices in West Virginia resold the meth once it was delivered.

Barrows told the investigators that he had gone to Pennsylvania to convert the proceeds of meth sales into bitcoin that he would have used to place a meth order on the dark web. The defendant even told the investigators of an incoming meth package that was going to be delivered to the Ross Township hotel. The investigators intercepted the package and found out that it carried approximately 226 grams of meth. Barrow’s confession was also supported by evidence found in his electronic devices.

Barrows was, as a result, charged in a three-count indictment, on March 31, 2018. The indictment charged him with one count each of attempting to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, and unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition by an unlawful user of a controlled substance.

Senior United States District Judge David S. Cercone sentenced Barrows to 10 years in federal prison on October 2, 2021. The prison sentence will be followed by five years of supervised release.