ROANOKE, Va. – A Bedford County man was sentenced to 26 years in federal prison for his role in a drug distribution conspiracy and discharging a firearm, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for Western Virginia.
Officials say the crime that landed 23-year-old Darion Mantez Harvey, of Goodview, behind bars happened on July 10, 2018.
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Harvey, along with other co-conspirators named Aaron Lee Woods and Chad Matthew Custer, used an apartment located at 1642 Eastern Avenue as the hub for their large-scale distribution of marijuana in the Roanoke Valley from late 2017 through August 2019.
As we’ve previously reported, the apartment is located behind the Little Caesars off of Orange Avenue.
Witnesses told authorities that customers would come and go from the apartment at all hours of the day to purchase marijuana from those dealing. They said the drug dealers would keep their loaded firearms in plain sight.
On the evening of July 10, 2018, a car, which had five people inside, arrived at the apartment.
That’s when a gunfight broke out involving Harvey and other men present at the scene.
While four of the five people began to run on foot, the last person ran back into his car and tried to escape the bullets being fired from inside the apartment, according to the attorney’s office.
One of the bullets shot hit the fifth person’s car, fatally striking him in the skull.
Harvey pled guilty in May 2021 to:
- One count of possessing with the intent to distribute and distributing 100 kilograms or more of marijuana
- One count of possessing and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a drug-related crime.
Woods and Custer are scheduled for their trial on October 24-28, 2022.