1125 Chapline Street, Federal Building, Suite 3000 ● Wheeling, WV 26003
(304) 234-0100 ● Contact: Fawn E. Thomas, Public Affairs Specialist

April 21, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Three Named in Two Separate Federal Drug Indictments

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA — Three area residents were named in two separate Indictments returned on April 19, 2011, by a Federal Grand Jury sitting in Elkins, West Virginia.

United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced that:

DAVID L. KIDD, II, age 42, of Martins Ferry, Ohio, and CHRISTOPHER L. GRIGG, age 24, of Bridgeport, Ohio, were named in a six-count Indictment. KIDD and GRIGG were both named in Count One of the Indictment alleging that they conspired to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute oxycodone from February 2010 to March 26, 2011, in Ohio and Marshall counties. The Indictment further alleges that as part of the conspiracy KIDD and GRIGG and others routinely traveled to Florida to obtain prescription pills and would “doctor shop,” going to pain clinics in Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, and West Palm Beach, Florida, claiming medical maladies and requesting and obtaining prescription pills, mostly oxycodone, and transporting the pills to the Northern District of West Virginia and eastern Ohio. The pills were then distributed in the Northern District of West Virginia and elsewhere.

Count Two of the Indictment alleges that KIDD and GRIGG conspired to engage in interstate travel in aid of a racketeering enterprise from February 2010, to March 25, 2011.

Count Three of the Indictment alleges that KIDD distributed oxycodone within 1,000 feet of Jensen Playground in Wheeling on May 22, 2010.

Count Four of the Indictment alleges that KIDD used a telephone to distribute oxycodone on September 13, 2010, in Moundsville, West Virginia, on September 13, 2010.

Count Five of the Indictment alleges that KIDD and GRIGG, aided and abetted by each other, distributed oxycodone in Moundsville on September 13, 2010.

Count Six of the Indictment alleges that GRIGG distributed oxycodone in Wheeling on February 24, 2011.

The Indictment includes a forfeiture count wherein the United States seeks to forfeit $43,834 in United States Currency and a firearm seized from KIDD’s residence in Martins Ferry on March 26, 2011; $2,907.65 in United States Currency and six firearms seized from GRIGG’s residence in Bridgeport on March 26, 2011; $13,502 in United States Currency seized from KIDD and GRIGG during a traffic stop in Volusia County, Florida, on March 25, 2011; and a money judgment in the amount of $1,500,000.

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $1,000,000 each on Counts One, Five, and Six of the Indictment; a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 on Count Two of the Indictment; a maximum penalty of 40 years imprisonment and a fine of $2,000,000 on Count Three of the Indictment; a maximum penalty of four years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 on Count Four of the Indictment.

The case was investigated by the Ohio Valley Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The Task Force consists of officers from the Wheeling Police Department, the Ohio County Sheriff’s Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

MICHAEL L. GANDY, age 41, of Wheeling, was named in a seven-count Indictment. Counts One, Three, and Five of the Indictment allege that GANDY used a telephone to distribute cocaine base on two occasions on March 19, 2011, and on March 24, 2011, in Wheeling. Counts Two, Four, and Six of the Indictment allege that GANDY distributed cocaine base on two occasions on March 19, 2011, and on March 24, 2011, in Wheeling. Count Seven of the Indictment alleges that GANDY possessed cocaine base and cocaine with the intent to distribute on March 29, 2011, in Wheeling. The Indictment also includes a forfeiture count wherein the United States seeks to forfeit $1,300 in United States Currency, a Motorolo cell phone, a HP cell phone, an Olympus digital camera, and digital scales seized during earlier executed searches.

If convicted, GANDY faces a maximum penalty of four years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 each on Counts One, Three, and Five of the Indictment; and a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $1,000,000 imprisonment each on Counts Two, Four, Six, and Seven of the Indictment.

The case was investigated by the Ohio Valley Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force.

The cases will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John C. Parr.PRESS RELEASE

It should be noted that the charges contained in the Indictments are merely accusations and not evidence of guilt, and that each defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.