Floridian Sentenced To 7 Years In Prison For Orlando-to-New Castle Prescription Pill Ring

PITTSBURGH - A resident of Jupiter, Fla., has been sentenced in federal court to seven years and three months incarceration on his conviction of one count of conspiracy to distribute narcotics, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab imposed the sentence on Larry James Dorsey, 34, formerly a resident of New Castle, Pa.

According to evidence presented to the court, Dorsey transported more than 40,000 oxycodone pills that he purchased for $9 each on the black market from the Orlando, Fla., area to drug dealers in the New Castle area, between 2008 and 2011. Those dealers then sold the oxycodone to drug abusers for $20-25 per pill. Oxycodone is a Schedule II narcotic that is classified as having "a high potential for abuse." Popularly called "hillbilly heroin," oxycodone is sold illegally and abused in many states in the Northeast, Midwest and South.

Dorsey found profit in his drug business. In February 2010, $109,000 in cash was seized from Dorsey by agents at the Pittsburgh International Airport, as he prepared to board a flight for Orlando. In September 2010, police in North Carolina intercepted a car from New Castle bound for Orlando, and discovered hidden in a door panel $158,000 in cash, destined for Dorsey. Following his indictment in the Western District of Pennsylvania in July 2011, agents seized boxes containing $99,930 and $79,900 from Dorsey's home and his mother's home, both in the Orlando area, and 5,000 oxycodone tablets.

Eight other individuals, all residents of Western Pennsylvania, were named in the indictment with Dorsey, and are awaiting trial.

Assistant United States Attorney Gregory J. Nescott prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Drug Enforcement Administration, the New Castle Police and the Pennsylvania State Police for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Larry Dorsey.