Brooke County man sentenced to 1 to 15 years for meth distribution

WELLSBURG, W.Va. — A Brooke County man has been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to a felony drug charge stemming from a January investigation at a Follansbee home.

Brooke County Prosecuting Attorney Allison Adyniec Cowden said Rian Harkins, 25, was sentenced July 13 by Brooke County Circuit Judge Jason A. Cuomo to serve one to 15 years in the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Harkins pleaded guilty April 20 to one count of possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine.

The case began Jan. 4 when Brooke County Sheriff’s Deputy Shane Siranovic responded to a reported overdose at a home on Fourth Street in Follansbee.

Prosecutors said Siranovic found Harkins unresponsive behind a table in the basement of the home. After attempts to wake him, including a sternum rub, Harkins regained consciousness and told deputies he was fine.

While inside the home, deputies reported seeing suspected drugs and drug paraphernalia in plain view. Authorities secured the home while Siranovic obtained a search warrant from Brooke County Magistrate Court.

During the search, deputies recovered digital scales, small plates containing a white substance that field-tested positive for cocaine or cocaine base, plastic bags containing suspected narcotics, and other items investigators said were consistent with packaging and distributing controlled substances.

Investigators also found several containers holding a liquid with a white, grainy substance, along with an ice cube tray containing similar material and a box of baking soda. Prosecutors said laboratory testing later confirmed the liquid contained fentanyl.

Authorities also recovered several firearms from the home. One, a Smith & Wesson Bodyguard .380-caliber handgun, was determined through the National Crime Information Center database to have been reported stolen from Wheeling, prosecutors said.

Harkins remains in the custody of the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.