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Press Release

Federal Jury Convicts Detroit Couple On Oxycodone Distribution Conspiracy Charges

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of West Virginia

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced that a Detroit couple was convicted on July 11 by a federal jury sitting in Charleston on oxycodone distribution conspiracy charges.  Ciara Dawkins, also known as “C,” 27, was found guilty on two counts of an indictment: conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and oxymorphone, also known as “Opana,” and being aided and abetted by another person while in possession of oxymorphone with intent to distribute.  Also found guilty by a federal jury was Dawkins’ co-defendant, Mack Brooks, 41, of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and oxymorphone. 

Evidence at trial proved that from in or about October 2009 until February 3, 2012, Dawkins and Brooks knowingly distributed oxycodone and oxymorphone in and around Kanawha, Lincoln and Boone counties.  Trial evidence further revealed that on February 3, 2012, Dawkins, aided and abetted by another person, distributed oxymorphone at or near Mineral Wells, W.Va.   Evidence presented at trial also proved that during the conspiracy, Brooks ran the illegal pill distribution scheme while he was incarcerated at the Noble Correctional Institution, located in Caldwell, Ohio.

Dawkins and Brooks each face up to 20 years in prison when they are sentenced on November 4, 2013 by United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston.

The Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation.  Assistant United States Attorneys John Frail and Gregory McVey handled the prosecution. 

The matters were brought 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. 

Updated January 7, 2015