Former Pratt Mayor sentenced for selling oxycodone

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The former mayor of Pratt was sentenced today to three years of probation for a federal drug crime, announced Acting United States Attorney Carol Casto. Gary Fields, 68, previously pleaded guilty to distribution of oxycodone in September of 2015.

Fields admitted that on April 23, 2015, he sold six 15 mg oxycodone pills to a confidential informant working with law enforcement. The drug deal took place at the defendant’s residence in Pratt.

The investigation was conducted by the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant United States Attorney Haley Bunn handled the prosecution. The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston. 

This prosecution is part of an ongoing effort 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.

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