U.S. Attorney Moore Capito presents 2026 law enforcement awards (DOJ)

Press Release

U.S. Attorney Moore Capito Presents 2026 Law Enforcement Awards

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

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For Immediate Release

U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of West Virginia

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - United States Attorney Moore Capito honored more than 60 federal, state, and local law enforcement professionals today for their exemplary investigative work and contributions in cases successfully prosecuted in the Southern District of West Virginia.

During a ceremony at the Robert C. Byrd U.S. Courthouse in Charleston, Capito presented the 2026 Law Enforcement Awards to recognize invaluable assistance within specific categories of cases and office initiatives as well as outstanding overall service.

"These awards recognize law enforcement professionals who exemplify the highest standards of service," Capito said. "Our honorees have demonstrated integrity, courage, leadership, and an unwavering commitment to public safety and the criminal justice system."

The honorees were recognized in the following categories:

Category: White Collar Crime

Outstanding White Collar Crime Cases:

U.S. vs Ross Jay Bailey (5:24-cr-105)
U.S. vs Ryan Keith Bailey (5:24-cr-106)
U.S. vs Mark William Bailey (5:23-cr-131)

• Special Agent Thomas Atherton, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Inspector General (NASA OIG)
• Special Agent Terry Hedrick, United States Secret Service
• First Sgt. Brad Burner, West Virginia State Police - Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) (retired)
• Litigation Financial Analyst Stephen DeWayne Rowley, U.S. Attorney's Office (posthumously)

A federal investigation determined that three members of the same Beckley-area family fraudulently converted more than $4 million in COVID-19 relief funds for their personal enrichment. Each defendant successfully applied for loans meant to help their businesses weather the global pandemic. They instead spent COVID-19 relief funds to buy stocks, cryptocurrency, and real estate among other personal and prohibited uses.

All three defendants pleaded guilty to theft of government money. To date, more than $6 million has been recovered from the defendants through paid restitution and assets subject to forfeiture. The investigation allowed the U.S. Attorney's Office to apply all available tools to seek justice in these cases: criminal prosecution, False Claims Act litigation, and civil forfeiture proceedings.

Rowley was instrumental in developing the case as Litigation Financial Analyst for the U.S. Attorney's Office. Rowley joined the office in 2011, after 23 years as a federal law enforcement officer, and retired in July 2025. Rowley died on April 23, 2026. His wife of 46 years, Bonnie Rowley, accepted the award.

Category: Project Safe Childhood

Project Safe Childhood (PSC) is a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched by the Department of Justice in 2006. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

Outstanding PSC Case: U.S. vs Alan J. Disomma, Jr. (5:22-cr-227)

• Special Agent Genevieve Baushke, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
• Special Agent Jared Jankowski, FBI
• Sgt. Jillian Yeager, West Virginia State Police
• Trooper Ricky Jones, West Virginia State Police

In December 2021, Alan J. Disomma, Jr. began communicating online with a woman located in West Virginia whom he believed to be the mother of two minor girls. Disomma stated that he wanted to engage in sexual relations with both girls. Disomma continued to express this intent in a series of text messages over the following year. In December 2022, Disomma flew from Arizona to West Virginia with plans to act on these intentions. Upon his arrival in Charleston, Disomma was arrested by law enforcement officers.

A federal jury convicted Disomma of two counts of attempted enticement of a minor and one count of traveling in interstate commerce for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual activity. Disomma was sentenced to life in prison on October 4, 2024.

Category: Drug Trafficking

Outstanding Drug Trafficking Cases:

U.S. vs Robert Earl Cureton, Jr. (3:24-cr-117)

• Lt. Stephen Maniskas, Huntington Violent Crime and Drug Task Force (HVCDTF), Huntington Police Department
• Sgt. Adrian Rosario, HVCDTF, Huntington Police Department
• Cpl. Alec Bentley, HVCDTF, Huntington Police Department
• Cpl. Michael Cremeans, HVCDTF, Huntington Police Department
• Cpl. Jacob Fitzwater, HVCDTF, Huntington Police Department
• Cpl. David Malcomb, HVCDTF, Huntington Police Department
• Sgt. Kerry Arthur, HVCDTF, Barboursville Police Department
• Officer Ryan Harless, Huntington Police Department
• Officer Jarod Martin, Huntington Police Department

On November 26, 2024, law enforcement officers seized approximately 11 pounds of methamphetamine and $4,566 in drug proceeds from Robert Earl Cureton, Jr. in Huntington. Cureton transported the drugs and cash that day by Greyhound bus from Detroit, Michigan to Cincinnati, Ohio, and then via rideshare from Cincinnati to Huntington, where officers conducted a traffic stop of the rideshare vehicle.

Investigators had previously conducted multiple controlled purchases of methamphetamine and fentanyl from Cureton in Huntington through the use of confidential informants. Cureton was sentenced on May 12, 2025, to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to distribution of methamphetamine. The Huntington Violent Crime and Drug Task Force and the Huntington Police Department conducted the investigation.

Operation Ghost

• Special Agent Jennifer King, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
• Special Agent Carolyn Rash, FBI
• Special Agent Erica Kelley, FBI Detroit Field Office
• Task Force Officer Jacob Kresslein, FBI Detroit Field Office
• Intelligence Analyst Sarah Cole, FBI
• Senior Digital Forensic Examiner Melinda Cash, FBI
• Digital Forensic Specialist Kelsey Billups, FBI
• Staff Operations Specialist Jennifer Ball, FBI
• Staff Operations Specialist Josh Van Meter, FBI
• Special Agent Jared Austin, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
• Technical Sgt. Kyle Kelly, West Virginia Air National Guard
• Lt. Paul Hodge, Kanawha County Sheriff's Office
• Cpl. Brian Hudson, Putnam County Sheriff's Office
• Lt. Hedrick "Bo" Miller, Charleston Police Department
• Sgt. Wesley Daniels, Charleston Police Department
• Sgt. Eric "Seth" Johnson, Charleston Police Department
• Cpl. Jordan Hilbert, Charleston Police Department
• Cpl. Owen Morris, Charleston Police Department
• Cpl. John Waggy, Charleston Police Department
• Cpl. Nigel Waller, Charleston Police Department
• Detective Matthew Justice, Charleston Police Department (now with U.S. Postal Inspection Service)
• Administrative Assistant Lori Lipscomb, Charleston Police Department
• Patrolman Oliver Lopez, Nitro Police Department
• Officer Matthew Cooper, St. Albans Police Department
• Cpl. David Harvey, South Charleston Police Department

Operation Ghost disrupted a drug trafficking organization (DTO) responsible for distributing quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine in the Charleston area between June 2024 and May 2025. A federal grand jury indicted more than a dozen individuals as a result of this investigation, conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT), which is composed of the Charleston Police Department, the Kanawha County Sheriff's Office, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, the Nitro Police Department, the St. Albans Police Department and the South Charleston Police Department.

Nine defendants pleaded guilty to roles in the DTO conspiracy, and six other defendants pleaded guilty in cases separate from the main indictment. The convicted defendants together have received more than a century of prison time, with seven each sentenced to 10 years or more in prison.

Category: Violent Crime

Outstanding Violent Crime Case: U.S. vs Tiwan Robert Bailey, et al. (2:24-cr-118)

• Special Agent Collin Nash, U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)
• Special Agent James Erwin, HSI
• Victim Assistance Specialist Kyanna Perkins, HSI
• Criminal Analyst Jessica Griffith, HSI
• Criminal Analyst Chris Powell, HSI
• Computer Forensic Analyst Leland F. "Fred" Pickering, HSI
• Deputy U.S. Marshal Derrick Williams, United States Marshals Service (USMS)
• Cpl. Treavor Dubiel, Kanawha County Sheriff's Office
• Cpl. Adam Aldridge, Charleston Police Department
• Detective Joshua Mena, Charleston Police Department (now with HSI)

Tiwan Robert Bailey led a sex trafficking conspiracy during which he trafficked four different female victims, including a 17-year-old girl. Bailey required each victim to engage in commercial sex acts and provide all the money they received to him. Bailey forced his victims to post sex ads online as part of his trafficking scheme. Bailey also obstructed the federal investigation of the sex trafficking conspiracy by seeking to interfere with any potential cooperation and testimony by the minor female victim.

Bailey coerced his adult victims through repeated acts of violence, including sexual assaults and physical beatings. Bailey reinforced this control through threats he issued to his victims in person and through voice messages, texts, and Facebook Messenger. Bailey supplied drugs to the victims suffering from addiction and withheld drugs from them as punishment.

Bailey became a fugitive after a warrant for his arrest was issued in this case in July 2024. The United States Marshals Service captured Bailey on January 17, 2025, in Lexington, Kentucky.

Bailey was sentenced to 25 years in prison on February 9, 2026, following his conviction by a federal jury of all six felony counts against him. Co-defendant Carrie Roy was sentenced to 10 years in prison for her role in the conspiracy.

Category: Project Safe Neighborhoods

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the Department of Justice's nationwide initiative that brings federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement, prosecutors, and other public safety partners together to coordinate efforts to combat violent crime and make communities safe. Coordinated by U.S. Attorneys' offices in each of the 94 federal districts, PSN is tailored to particular communities to strategically address specific violent crime and public safety challenges. As a key component of Operation Take Back America, PSN serves a central role in the Department's commitment to make our country safe. PSN emphasizes three core principles: rapid federal response to violent crime and criminal offenders; strong, strategic partnerships among law enforcement at all levels; and accountability and deterrence through the prosecution of the most serious, readily provable offenses and other strategies. These efforts complement and strengthen President Trump's Homeland Security Task Forces, ensuring a comprehensive federal response to the most pressing public safety issues facing communities.

Outstanding Project Safe Neighborhoods Case: U.S. vs Erin Leigh Keeney, et al. (3:25-cr-161)

• Special Agent Cory Jarrett, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
• Special Agent Sean McNees, ATF
• Special Agent Jason Berty, ATF
• Special Agent Quinn Conlon, ATF
• Special Agent Launa Hunt, ATF
• Special Agent Kachine Jonese, ATF
• Special Agent Ryan McComas, ATF
• Special Agent Joseph Reed, ATF
• Special Agent Mari Woodford, ATF
• Lt. Steve Maniskas, Huntington Violent Crime and Drug Task Force (HVCDTF), Huntington Police Department
• Cpl. Michael Cremeans, HVCDTF, Huntington Police Department
• Cpl. Taylor Eastes, HVCDTF, Huntington Police Department
• Cpl. Jacob Fitzwater, HVCDTF, Huntington Police Department
• Cpl. David Malcomb, HVCDTF, Huntington Police Department
• Officer Ryan Harless, Huntington Police Department

This case resulted from an investigation that disrupted a drug trafficking organization (DTO) responsible for distributing quantities of fentanyl, cocaine base, and methamphetamine in the Huntington area. Several of the conspirators possessed firearms during DTO transactions and sold firearms or sold drugs in exchange for firearms. Investigators seized 27 firearms and quantities of fentanyl, carfentanyl, cocaine base, and methamphetamine. All seven individuals indicted as a result of this investigation pleaded guilty.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Charleston field office and the Huntington Violent Crime and Drug Task Force (HVCDTF) conducted the investigation. The ATF field offices in Louisville, Lexington, and London, Kentucky and in Huntington and Clarksburg, West Virginia, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Huntington field office, the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) Southern District of West Virginia Cops United Felony Fugitive Enforcement Division (CUFFED) Task Force, and the Huntington Police Department assisted the investigation.

Task Force of the Year: Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT)

• Commander: Lt. Hedrick "Bo" Miller, Charleston Police Department

The U.S. Attorney's Award for Task Force of the Year recognizes outstanding cooperative law enforcement efforts and endeavors that have significant and lasting community impact. A highlight of the ceremony, this award honors a task force for one or more specific cases and also for their continuing role in significant investigations and prosecutions.

This year's award recognizes MDENT for its role in Operation Ghost.

Law Enforcement Officers of the Year

The Law Enforcement Officer of the Year awards honor individual federal, state, and local officers selected for outstanding contributions to significant cases.

• Federal Law Enforcement Officer of the Year: Special Agent Collin Nash, U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)
• State Law Enforcement Officer of the Year:Sgt. Jillian Yeager, West Virginia State Police (WVSP)
• Local Law Enforcement Officer of the Year: Cpl. David Malcomb, Huntington Police Department

U.S. Attorney's Office Distinguished Service Award

• Special Agent Jennifer King, FBI

This award recognizes King for her deep experience, strong competitive drive, and unwavering commitment to fairness. Her dedication, professionalism, and service have strengthened the community, and set a standard for law enforcement excellence in this district.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.