KINGWOOD — Five people were charged with various drug offenses after an investigation by Kingwood Police that turned up drugs and a large amount of paraphernalia.
“I’ve never in my 13 years in police work seen so much drug paraphernalia,” said Kingwood Police Chief T.A. Nestor. “Every place we looked we just kept finding more.”
Among the paraphernalia recovered during the execution of a search warrant on a Kingwood home were about 40 types of crack pipes, Nestor said, some still new.
Barbara Lee Everly, 52, of Kingwood, and April Lynn Riley, 35, of Tunnelton, were each charged with felony possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and conspiracy. Bond was set at $50,000 each, and Riley was still in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on April 11.
Brittany Dawn Bendana, 27, and John Gerard Bendana II, 27, who shared Everly’s Grapethicket Road address, and Lisa Ann Jones, 53, of Tunnelton, were each charged with possession of a controlled substance.
The Bendanas and Jones pleaded guilty and were given a 90-day suspended jail sentence, placed on six months unsupervised probation and ordered to pay $166.25 each in court costs.
According to paperwork at Preston Magistrate Court, police served a warrant on Everly’s home and recovered drugs, multiple cell phones, several computers and drug paraphernalia.
According to criminal complaints by Nestor: After 9 p.m. Monday, Nestor did a traffic stop on Tunnelton Street and found meth and crack cocaine on passengers in the 2006 Kia Sorento driven by Everly.
Riley was a passenger in the vehicle and had six small bags of crack cocaine, some in her sock, and a small bag of meth and cocaine in her purse. Riley said she was selling the drugs for Everly.
Jones was also a passenger in the Kia and while talking to Deputy R.A. Stockett Jr., a bag containing crack cocaine fell out from under her shirt. She handed Nestor a vial of meth and two glass smoking devices.
While executing the search warrant, police found a plastic bottle and hypodermic needles in Brittany Bendana’s bedroom. She told police they were hers and the residue was meth or heroin. John Bendana II admitted to owning a small, metal container found in his bedroom, which contained meth.
Nestor said no evidence was found during the search that drugs were being made in the home.
