Mercer Man Sentenced To 4 Years In Prison

AS PART OF FEDERAL PRESCRIPTION DRUG CRACKDOWN

BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – A 27-year-old Mercer County man was sentenced today to four years in prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to a federal drug charge, announced U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin.  Matthew M. Pigg, of Montcalm, Mercer County, W.Va., previously pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute hydromorphone, a powerful prescription painkiller commonly known as Dilaudid.  Pigg’s sentence was handed down by Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber in Bluefield.   
On February 12, 2013, police executed a search warrant on the defendant’s Montcalm residence.  During the execution of the search warrant, police found a quantity of hydromorphone pills hidden inside of a safe located in the defendant’s bedroom.  Pigg told police that he intended to sell the pain pills.  At the time Pigg possessed the hydromorphone pills, he also possessed a loaded .38 caliber pistol.  The firearm, also located inside of the defendant’s bedroom safe, was seized by police.    

This case was brought as part of the Bluefield Pill Initiative, a collaborative, multi-agency regional law enforcement effort designed to halt prescription drug trafficking in Mercer, McDowell, and Wyoming counties.  The Bluefield Pill Initiative is led by the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, which includes the West Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Mercer, McDowell and Wyoming County Sheriff’s Departments, and the Bluefield and Princeton Police Departments.  Assistant United States Attorney John File handled the prosecution. 

This case was also brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nationwide commitment to reduce gun crime in the United States by networking existing local programs targeting gun crime.