Detroit Man Sentenced for Federal Drug Offense

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Detroit man caught with oxycodone he was going to sell in Huntington in September 2017 was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison today, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart. Curtis Holcomb, 39, previously pleaded guilty to possession with the intent to distribute oxycodone. Stuart commended the investigative efforts of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the West Virginia State Police Violent Crime and Drug Task Force.

“We will not tolerate those involved in the illicit sale of prescription drugs,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart.  “As I often say, addicts aren’t our enemy in the fight against the opiate epidemic, but dealers and traffickers are, and we will lock them up.”   

On September 15, 2017, agents with the DEA and the West Virginia State Police Violent Crime and Drug Task Force used a confidential informant to arrange a purchase of 500 oxycodone pills from Holcomb. On his way to meet the informant, a trooper with the West Virginia State Police conducted a traffic stop on Holcomb’s vehicle on Artisan Avenue in Huntington. Troopers searched Holcomb and recovered 454 oxycodone pills that Holcomb had concealed in his sock.  Holcomb admitted that he intended to sell the pills.  

Assistant United States Attorneys Joseph F. Adams handled the prosecution. The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers.

This drug prosecution was 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 pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and heroin in communities across the Southern District. 

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