Huntington Woman Who Participated In Illegal Drug Distribution Scheme Enters Federal Guilty Plea

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Huntington woman who participated in an oxycodone and heroin distribution conspiracy pleaded guilty today to a federal drug charge, announced U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin.  Kimberly Gayle Hamlett, 39, pleaded guilty to distribution of oxycodone before Chief United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers in Huntington.   From at least 2011 through August 8, 2013, Hamlett participated in a conspiracy to sell oxycodone pills and heroin.  In May, Hamlett sold approximately one gram of heroin to a police informant in exchange for $200.  The illegal heroin transaction took place near 16th Street and 6th Avenue in Huntington. 

Hamlett told police that during the conspiracy, she provided residences for her associates to store and sell drugs.  She also told police that firearms were kept at the residences. 

Hamlett faces up to 20 years in federal prison when she is sentenced on February 24, 2014. 

The Huntington Violent Crimes and Drug Task Force conducted the investigation.  Assistant United States Attorney Gregory McVey is in charge of the prosecution. 

This case is being prosecuted as part of an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of prescription drugs.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down illegal pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers in communities across the Southern District.