The Ohio County Prosecutor’s Office announces the sentences of the following recent fentanyl cases.
Several offenders have been sentenced in Ohio County following convictions on felony drug charges involving fentanyl and other controlled substances.
On April 8, Kimberly Straight, 42, of Wheeling was convicted of the felony offense of “Possession with Intent to Deliver Fentanyl.” Straight was arrested on June 6, 2025, after Wheeling Police observed two individuals traveling the wrong way on a one-way street before continuing in the incorrect lane of Chapline Street. During the encounter, Straight was found in possession of 25 stamp bags containing a brown powder substance later confirmed to be fentanyl along with drug paraphernalia. Straight admitted she intended to both consume the drugs and sell the remainder.
After an Indictment returned by the September 2025 Ohio County Grand Jury, Straight entered a guilty plea to the felony drug charge. First Judicial Circuit Court Judge Michael J. Olejasz sentenced Straight to not less than three nor more than 15 years in prison. Straight has two prior misdemeanor drug charges from 2018 and 2021.
“Straight’s criminal history is consistent with that of an addict, however, fentanyl is an especially dangerous and severe drug. As such, given her admission to her intent to distribute the drugs, we insisted on a felony conviction. The Legislature has determined that offenses involving it warrant harsher penalties, and our experience as law enforcement bears this out,” Ohio County Prosecuting Attorney Shawn Turak said.
On April 7 and April 16, two additional drug offenders, Tracy McWhorter, 45, of Wheeling, and I’Vion Yates, 19, of Cleveland, Ohio, were convicted of felony drug offenses in a separate case.
McWhorter and Yates were arrested on August 18, 2025, after members of the Ohio County Sheriff’s Office conducted a traffic stop upon observing a vehicle traveling over the center line near 42nd and Jacob Street. Officers recognized the driver, McWhorter, from a prior arrest for possession with intent to deliver controlled substances on August 4, 2025. Following a consent search of the vehicle, officers located cash and drug paraphernalia. McWhorter admitted she was concealing drugs on her person and stated that Yates had handed her the drugs and instructed her to hide them when officers initiated the stop.
Approximately 24 grams of methamphetamine and cocaine base were recovered. McWhorter also admitted the two were traveling to North Wheeling to sell the drugs.
Following an Indictment returned by the January 2026 Ohio County Grand Jury, McWhorter entered a guilty plea to the felony crimes of “Possession with Intent to Deliver Fentanyl,” “Delivery of Methamphetamine” and “Possession with Intent to Deliver Cocaine.”
First Judicial Circuit Court Judge Michael J. Olejasz sentenced McWhorter to not less than three nor more than 15 years in prison. McWhorter has a prior federal felony conviction from 2012 for distribution of heroin. She was sentenced to serve two years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for that conviction.
Yates entered a guilty plea to the felony offense of “Delivery of Heroin.” First Judicial Circuit Court Judge David J. Sims sentenced Yates to not less than one nor more than 15 years in prison, suspended for two years of supervised probation to be served in his home city of Cleveland.
