DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
Western District of Kentucky

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, August 15, 2018
Russell Coleman
, United States Attorney
Contact: Nick Storm

Louisville Man Charged with Dealing Heroin that Resulted in Overdose Death

Alleged Heroin Dealer Faces No Less Than 20 Years in Federal Prison

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A Louisville, Kentucky man has been charged with possession and distribution of heroin after a Bowling Green woman died of an overdose, announced United States Attorney Russell M. Coleman.

 

Damone Domonique Bell, age 22, of Bowling Green, was charged in a criminal complaint August 1, 2018 and subsequently charged by federal grand jury indictment on August 15, 2018.

 

“One pill or single dose of heroin can kill, “stated U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman. “Likewise, if as little as a single pill or dose causes death or an overdose, drug traffickers need be on notice that our office will bring charges carrying a mandatory penalty of twenty years to life in federal prison.”

 

According to the two-count federal indictment, on July 30, 2018, defendant Bell supplied K.M. and L.C. with heroin. K.M. was found July 30, 2018 by Bowling Green Police Department unresponsive beside a vehicle and efforts to resuscitate were unsuccessful. K.M. was pronounced dead at the Medical Center in Bowling Green. The previously filed Criminal Complaint alleges surveillance video from the gas station in Bowling Green where L.C. and K.M. purchased the heroin, along with text messages and other investigative measures which led police to defendant Bell.

 

Defendant Bell was arrested during a traffic stop by Kentucky State Police on his way to deliver heroin on July 31, 2018, according to the Criminal Complaint. Troopers searched defendant Bell’s vehicle after detecting the odor of marijuana, and found a small bag of suspected marijuana and two small plastic bags which field-tested positive for the presence of heroin.

 

If convicted of both offenses at trial, defendant Bell could be sentenced to no less than 20 years and no more than life in prison, fined $2,000,000 and ordered to serve no less than 3 years and up to life of supervised release.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jo E. Lawless in coordination with the Warren County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, and is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Bowling Green Police Department and the Kentucky State Police.

 

 

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The indictment of a person by a Grand Jury is an accusation only and that person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty

 

Louisville Field Division