FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 12, 2012
MERCER COUNTY MAN SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS IN PRISON AS PART OF FEDERAL PRESCRIPTION DRUG CRACKDOWN
Defendant is the third BPI-related sentencing this week
BECKLEY, W.Va. – U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin today announced that a Mercer County man was sentenced to four years in federal prison for illegally distributing prescription drugs. Jeffrey L. King, 27, of Bluefield, W.Va., previously pleaded guilty in March to distributing hydromorphone, a powerful prescription painkiller better known as Dilaudid. King admitted that on August 2, 2011, he sold a quantity of hydromorphone to a confidential informant working at the direction of the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force.
On Wednesday, Kimberly G. Froy, 22, of Bluefield, W.Va., was sentenced to four years’ probation that includes 100 hours of community service for distributing hydromorphone. Also this week, Angela R. Barnett, 25, of Princeton, W.Va., was sentenced to three years’ probation that includes 100 hours of community service for selling hydromorphone.
The Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force conducted the investigation. United States District Judge Irene C. Berger presided over today’s sentencing.
Last month, a total of twelve drug dealers were sentenced for illegally distributing prescription drugs and other illegal narcotics as part of the Bluefield Pill Initiative.
The case was prosecuted as part of the Bluefield Pill Initiative. The Bluefield Pill Initiative is 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 Attorneys Miller Bushong and John File are in charge of the prosecutions.
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