Basketball Player From Michigan Gets 2 Years In Prison For Dealing Heroin At West Virginia State University

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WWJ/AP) - A local man who was on the basketball team at West Virginia State University will spend two years in federal prison for dealing heroin at the school.

Kendrick Leon Ward, of Oak Park, Mich., received his sentence Tuesday in U.S. District Court in West Virginia after pleaded guilty in September to distributing heroin within 1,000 feet of school property. His prison term will be followed by six years of supervised release.

The government says Ward, 25, sold approximately five grams heroin to a confidential informant for $1,125 over two separate occasions in 2013. Both deals took place near a student dormitory on West Virginia State's campus.

During a subsequent search of Ward's dorm room, officers seized approximately 20 grams of heroin, 100 oxycodone pills, 100 tramadol pills and $21,265 in cash -- which included bills used in the undercover drug bust.

Ward had been facing up to 40 years in federal prison and a $2 million fine.

Ward played in 27 games during the 2012-2013 season and averaged 4.5 points per game. Before WVSU, Ward played at Detroit's Academy of Oak Park High School and Columbus State Community College in Ohio.

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