Columbus Man Ppleads Guilty For Role In Hydrocodone Conspiracy

Conspirators Transported Prescription Drugs from Florida to Charleston in Bi-monthly Trips

Charleston, W.Va. –  United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced that David Frizzell, age 44, of Columbus, Ohio, plead guilty today in federal court in Charleston for his role in a conspiracy to distribute hydrocodone.  Frizzell admitted that from early 2010 through October of 2011, he arranged bi-monthly trips for himself and others to obtain Lortab tablets, which contain hydrocodone, from various pharmacies in Florida.  Some of the drugs were brought back to Charleston to be sold.  Frizzell paid the travel expenses and provided the transportation for the trips. 

Frizzell faces up to ten years imprisonment and a $500,000 fine when he sentenced December 18, 2014.

The Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT) was responsible for the investigation of Frizzell and others involved in the conspiracy.

This case is being 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 and heroin.  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 and heroin in communities across the Southern District.