Fayetteville, WV (WOAY) – A Fayette County man was sentenced to prison in Circuit Court on January 21, 2024.
In a post on the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of Fayette Countys Facebook page 28-year-old Jacob William Edward Ross of Oak Hill, West Virginia was sentenced by Circuit Judge Thomas K. Fast to concurrent sentences for three felony charges of prohibited person in possession of a firearm, delivery of methamphetamine, and child neglect. Ross pled guilty to those charges on Nov. 20, 2024.
He was previously sentenced to twenty years in prison for conspiracy to violate the Uniform Controlled Substances Act on Sept. 24, 2024. His additional sentence will be served consecutively with this sentence.
Ross must serve a minimum of six years and three months in prison prior to being eligible for parole. After his release from confinement and completion of parole, Ross is subject to an additional ten years of extended supervised release because of the gross child neglect conviction. He also must register for ten years as a child abuser with the West Virginia State Police.
On January 11, 2024, law enforcement was dispatched to the Ross residence on Collinwood Drive in Oak Hill to perform a welfare check on Ross’ wife, Heather. Law enforcement also had an arrest warrant for Jacob Ross. Officers observed evidence of drug use and distribution while trying to locate him in the home. A search warrant was obtained, and a handgun was recovered. Jacob Ross is unable to legally possess firearms based upon his prior felony conviction for conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine in Cabell County in 2018.
Later, on February 6, 2024, an undercover investigation of Ross resulted in a cooperating individual purchasing illegal drugs from him and others in the home. A search warrant was obtained, and more illegal drugs and evidence of drug distribution were found in the home. Heather Ross admitted knowing that her husband was selling illegal drugs out of the home, and further investigation revealed that the couple’s minor children were present at varying times that Ross drug trafficking organization operated out of the home.
This was a joint investigation by the Oak Hill Police Department and the Central Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jennifer D. Crane.
