Ottawa Woman Sentenced  For Peddling Rx Drugs

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – An Ottawa woman was sentenced Monday to 30 months in federal prison for peddling prescription drugs, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.

Brandi Bivens, 32, Ottawa, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, Methadone and Morphine. In her plea, she admitted she conspired with her mother and co-defendant, Connie Edwards, as well as other co-defendants, from November 2007 to February 2012 to distribute prescription drugs.

The investigation began when the Franklin County Drug Enforcement Unit received information that Edwards was selling prescription drugs in Ottawa. Investigators set up surveillance and observed Bivens and Edwards picking up prescriptions at pharmacies. Investigators made undercover purchases of prescription drugs from them. State prescription drug records showed that from 2009 to August 2010, Bivens received 1,056 Morphine tablets, 351 Hydrocodone tablets, 432 Oxycodone tablets and 1,520 Oxycontin tablets.

Co-defendants include:
Connie Edwards, who was sentenced to 300 months in federal prison.
Shirley Price, who was sentenced to 84 months.
Tamara Ledom, who was sentenced to 216 months.
Brittany Edwards, who was sentenced to 15 months.
Angela Mitchell, who was sentenced to probation for one year.

Grissom commended the Ottawa Police Department, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Kansas Attorney General’s Office and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri McCracken for their work on the case.