Bluefield man sentenced for felony drug crime in Fayette County

OAK HILL, WV (WVNS) — A Mercer County man was sentenced to prison after a traffic stop in Fayette County.

28-year-old Deron Adolph Yarrell, of Bluefield, was sentenced on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, to 20 years in prison for the felony crime of conspiracy to possess fentanyl, oxymorphone, cocaine, and tramadol with the intent to deliver, one to 15 years for possession of fentanyl, oxymorphone, and cocaine with the intent to deliver, and one to three years for possession of tramadol with the intent to deliver.

On April 28, 2024, Yarrell, who also had pending felony drug charges in Marion County, West Virginia and Tazewell, Virginia, pleaded guilty to the felony offenses.

He will need to serve the sentences consecutively, requiring him to spend at least seven years in prison before becoming eligible for parole and with the maximum sentence being 38 years, and will also need to pay a $6,000 fine.

Yarrell’s co-defendant, Cory Lee Callen, also of Bluefield, West Virginia, was sentenced on July 8, 2024 to ten years in prison for the felony crime of conspiracy to possess fentanyl, oxymorphone, cocaine, and tramadol with the intent to deliver. He will need to serve at least two years and six months in prison before being eligible for parole.

A member of the Oak Hill Police Department performed a traffic stop on a Jeep driven by Yarrell’s co-defendant, Cory Lee Callen, on February 26, 2023. The Jeep, traveling north on U.S. Route 19, was speeding.

The passenger of the Jeep could not give the officer any identification, and gave a date of birth with the name “Allen Jackson.” Callen, who was not truthful about the destination, also told the officer that the passenger’s name was “Allen Jackson.”

After investigating, the officer discovered there was not a person with the given birthdate named “Allen Jackson.” A portable fingerprint scanner was used to reveal the passenger’s identity was Deron A. Yarrell. Yarrell had outstanding arrest warrants from Tazewell, Virginia.

Yarrell and Callen were arrested, and the Jeep was impounded and searched after a search warrant was acquired. During the search of the Jeep, more than 400 pills, amounts of suspected controlled substances, and digital scales were discovered.

Lab testing revealed that 400 pills in the Jeep contained a mixture of fentanyl and tramadol and 20 pills were pharmaceutical oxymorphone. In addition to the pills, both Yarrell and Callen were in possession of one ounce of powder cocaine, and one ounce of powder fentanyl.

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