Fayette Co. Pill Dealer Sentenced To Nearly 4 Years In Federal Prison For Selling Oxycodone

Police also found 17 firearms, hundreds of marijuana plants at defendant’s residence

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Fayette County pill dealer who sold approximately 250 powerful prescription painkillers over a two-year period was sentenced today to three years and ten months in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin.  Vernon Peters III, 35, of Kincaid, Fayette County, W.Va., previously pleaded guilty in May to distribution of oxycodone.  On March 20, 2012, Peters sold three 30-milligram oxycodone tablets to a police informant.  The pill transaction occurred at the defendant’s Fayette County residence.   

On March 19, 2012, members of the West Virginia State Police seized approximately 17 firearms and 236 marijuana plants from the defendant’s residence.  A number of firearms at the residence were located in close proximity to the marijuana plants.

In total, Peters illegally sold approximately 250 30-milligram oxycodone pills in and around Fayette County. 

The West Virginia State Police conducted the investigation.  Assistant United States Attorney John File handled the prosecution.  The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr. 

This case was 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.  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 in communities across the Southern District.