Richmond Woman Convicted by Federal Jury for Trafficking Oxycodone

Lexington — A federal jury has found Patsy Wardle, a 65 year old woman from Richmond, Kentucky, guilty of conspiring to distribute oxycodone. The jury also found Wardle guilty of two additional counts of distributing oxycodone on February 16, 2018 and March 7, 2018. The jury convicted Wardle on Wednesday, April 24, 2019, following a 3-day trial in U.S. District Court.

According to trial testimony, Wardle and her co-conspirators, Shannon Allen, Bianca Pennington, Malik Chapman, and others, worked together to distribute oxycodone throughout Richmond, Kentucky and surrounding areas. Chapman and others were responsible for transporting oxycodone pills from Detroit, Michigan to Richmond, Kentucky, where Allen and Pennington would further distribute the pills to local drug dealers, like Wardle. Wardle primarily distributed the pills from her home in Richmond.

Wardle’s co-defendants, Shannon Allen, Bianca Pennington, Malik Chapman, Robert May, Doug Mayfield, Ryan Jones, Alyssa Parrish, and Victoria Grimes all pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute oxycodone prior to trial.

Wardle is scheduled to be sentenced on August 29, 2019, at the federal courthouse in Lexington. Wardle and her co-defendants face sentences of imprisonment of not more than 20 years. The Court will impose a sentence after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the applicable federal statutes.

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Christopher Evans, Special Agent in Charge, DEA, Louisville Field Division; Commissioner Richard Sanders, Kentucky State Police; Chief James Ebert, Richmond Police Department; Sheriff Mike Coyle, Madison County Sheriff’s Department; and Chief David Gregory, Berea Police Department jointly announced the jury’s verdict.