Mingo Pill Dealer Sentenced To 4 Years In Federal Prison For Oxycodone Conspiracy

Napier illegally mailed package containing oxycodone tablets, arrested by undercover officer

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Mingo County man who mailed a package that contained more than 1,700 oxycodone pills was sentenced to four years in federal prison, U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today.  Patrick Warren Napier, 41, of Dingess, W.Va., previously pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to distribute oxycodone.  On April 29, 2011, investigators with the United States Postal Inspection Service intercepted a package in Peach Creek, W.Va.  The package, which contained 1,789 30-milligram oxycodone tablets, had been mailed by Napier.  The package was intended for his associate, Michael Fortuna.  Napier told investigators that he mailed the package containing the oxycodone and expected to be paid once the pills were sold. 

Napier also told investigators that he obtained oxycodone pills from a source of supply located in Florida beginning in April 2011.

Michael Ray Fortuna, 45, of Peach Creek, Logan County, W.Va., previously pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to distribute oxycodone.  Fortuna faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on November 19, 2013.   

The United States Postal Inspection Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Logan County Sheriff’s Department conducted the investigation.  Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Hanks handled the prosecution.  The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston. 

This case was 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.