Operation Smoke and Mirrors Update: Federal Jury Finds Jackson County Man Guilty of Role in Methamphetamine Trafficking Organization

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - After two days of trial, a federal jury convicted Mark Leslie Lively, 57, of Kenna, of conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.

Evidence at trial proved that Lively participated in a drug trafficking organization (DTO) that operated in the Charleston area from about November 2022 to in or about March 2023. Members of the DTO conspiracy commonly obtained their controlled substances on consignment, paying their suppliers with proceeds from distributing them to customers. On February 2, 2023, law enforcement officers intercepted a series of phone calls between Lively and co-conspirator Karl Lamont Funderburk, during which the two discussed money that Lively owed Funderburk and arranged for Lively to obtain a quantity of methamphetamine from Funderburk.

Funderburk and Lively met later that day at in an alley near Washington Street West in Charleston, where Funderburk provided approximately 138 grams of methamphetamine to Lively. Funderburk received $900 from Lively, including $400 that Lively owed for a prior drug transaction that the two discussed during the intercepted phone calls. As Lively drove away from the meeting place, a law enforcement officer conducted a traffic stop of Lively's vehicle and requested the assistance of a police K-9 unit. The police K-9 alerted to the presence of controlled substances in the vehicle. The officer searched Lively's vehicle and seized the methamphetamine hidden underneath the dashboard.

The officer issued a citation to Lively for simple possession and allowed him to leave. Law enforcement intercepted a phone call Lively made to Funderburk following the traffic stop, relaying the details of the traffic stop and the seizure of the methamphetamine. The evidence at trial established that Lively intended to distribute the methamphetamine that he received from Funderburk.

Lively is scheduled to be sentenced on November 4, 2024, and faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison, at least five years of supervised release, and a $10 million fine.

Funderburk, 38, of Charleston, pleaded guilty on December 6, 2023, to conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, conspiracy to distribute a quantity of cocaine, and conspiracy to distribute a quantity of fentanyl. Funderburk awaits sentencing.

Lively and Funderburk are among 32 individuals indicted as a result of Operation Smoke and Mirrors, a major drug trafficking investigation that has yielded the largest methamphetamine seizure in West Virginia history. Law enforcement seized well over 400 pounds of methamphetamine as well as 40 pounds of cocaine, 3 pounds of fentanyl, 19 firearms and $935,000 in cash.

Funderburk is also among 29 of the defendants who have pleaded guilty. Indictments against the remaining defendants are pending. An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

"I commend Assistant United States Attorneys Jeremy B. Wolfe and Joshua Hanks and our trial team for securing guilty verdicts on both counts against Lively in this case, which is the result of tremendous investigative work by a dedicated array of our law enforcement partners," said United States Attorney Will Thompson.

Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT), the West Virginia State Police, the West Virginia National Guard Counter Drug program, the Kanawha County Sheriff's Office, the Charleston Police Department, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office and the Raleigh County Sheriff's Office. MDENT 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.

Chief United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston presided over the jury trial.

The investigation was part of the Department of Justice's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). The program was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and is the keystone of the Department of Justice's drug reduction strategy. OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking organizations, transnational criminal organizations and money laundering organizations that present a significant threat to the public safety, economic, or national security of the United States.

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. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:23-cr-31.

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