A week and a half ago, a Bridgeport resident involved in an oxycodone case that involved hundreds of pills and roughly $1 million in cash was in federal court. On May 2, 26-year-old Suhip E. Ebrahim pleaded guilty to oxycodone trafficking as a result of his March arrest.

 

While the guilty plea often signals the end to a case outside of the sentencing, that’s not necessarily the situation as it relates to major criminal cases such as this, according to U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld.

 

“I would say yes that the investigation is ongoing, but every case is ongoing because we’re always trying to gather more information if possible,” said Ihlenfeld when asked recently if the case was closed. “Sometimes a case stops with an indictment and a conviction (or a guilty plea). Other times, it continues on. I can’t tell you what’s going to happen in this case, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it is over. There’s no certainty that it’s over at the point we’re at now.”

 

What Ihlenfeld is certain of is that the case involving Ebrahim is more than just unique. Ihlenfeld, seen by many as the face in the battle for crime in the northern part of West Virginia, said this was the biggest seizure involving cash that he’s ever been involved with and he’s been involved prosecuting cases with drugs – even prior to his time as U.S. Attorney – since 1997.

 

“No,” he said directly when asked if he’s ever been involved with a larger cash seizure than the roughly $1 million in the Ebrahim case. “The Hot Stuff & Cool Things case (raided in Clarksburg in 2012) was big as well, but that was different. It had a combination of real estate, automobiles, cash and bank accounts. This was just cash.

 

“If we have large seizures, it’s usually a large bank account or a piece of real estate that has a lot of value to it,” he continued. “It’s unusual to be able to seize that amount of cash.”

 

In early March, Ebrahim was arrested in Wheeling for having large quantities of prescription painkillers (almost 600 oxycodone) and he was found with more than $100,000 in United States currency. The arrest was the result of work by the Ohio Valley Drug and Violent Crime Task Force and the Marshall County Drug and Violent Crime Task Force. Eventually, with Ebrahim being a Bridgeport resident the investigation turned south and within a few days, the Harrison County Drug and Violent Crime Task Force was also turning up money.

 

A few days later, Bridgeport Police Chief John Walker, who serves as the local Task Force chairman, reported that roughly $110,000 in currency was found locally as a result of a follow up. The money was discovered in Clarksburg.

 

That, however, wasn’t the end of it. And it wasn’t the big score.

 

A few more days later, on March 10, a storage locker was located in Monongalia County. Inside that building was $697,000.

 

“I was (taken aback). When we had the first amount that was around $100,000 I was excited. That’s money out of the hands of the bad guys that can be reinvested in law enforcement.  Then, when I heard of the next two I just shook my head,” said Ihlenfeld. “I didn’t expect the case to turn into something like that so quickly. That was the result of the great work of our task forces that track down every lead in every case.”

 

Ihlenfeld said typically once an arrest is made assets and cash are eventually recovered. However, he said it’s usually a much longer process

 

“The savvy criminals will find ways to try and hide their money … In this case, I would say the individual didn’t do a very good job of laundering his money. He kept it all in cash and didn’t move it into anything else that might have made it more difficult for us to find,” said Ihlenfeld. “I’m not saying we wouldn’t have found it and ultimately tracked it down, but it’s a little easier when it’s all kept in cash whether it's in a backpack, a storage facility or someone's home."

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows the near $700,000 that was recovered as part of three cash discoveries, while the man responsible for the cash, Bridgeport resident Suhip E. Ebrahim, is shown in the second photo. In the bottom photo, U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld addresses the media as Chief John Walker looks on.