Former Beckley Police Dept. Evidence Technician Sentenced To Four Years’ Probation For Stealing Prescription Painkillers

BECKLEY, W.Va. – Gabriella Brown, the former Beckley Police Department evidence technician, was sentenced today to four years’ probation for stealing oxycodone pills from the Department’s evidence storage room in August 2012. Brown was sentenced by Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber. Brown, 31, of Beckley, W.Va., previously pleaded guilty in December 2012 to obtaining controlled substances by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception and subterfuge.

Brown’s crime prompted the dismissal of a number of drug prosecutions that involved evidence stored in the Beckley Police Department evidence room.

The Drug Enforcement Agency Tactical Diversion Squad was in charge of the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Steven I. Loew handled the prosecution. 

This case was 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.  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.