Press Release
For Illegal Oxycodone Possession
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of West Virginia
RHODE ISLAND PILL DEALER SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Rhode Island pill dealer who had hundreds of oxycodone pills and thousands in cash inside of a rented Charleston-area hotel room in May 2012 was sentenced today to two years and eight months in federal prison, U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin announced. Benjamin Steven Campopiano, 29, of Cranston, Rhode Island, previously pleaded guilty in September 2013 to possession of oxycodone with intent to distribute. On May 22, 2012, law enforcement agents obtained a search warrant for an Embassy Suites hotel room that was rented at the time by Campopiano. During the execution of the search warrant, police seized approximately 298 30-milligram oxycodone tablets, $7,820 in cash and marijuana.
Campopiano told police that he distributed oxycodone to individuals in and around Charleston. The defendant also told police that the cash seized from his rented hotel room was proceeds collected from illegal pill transactions.
The United States Postal Inspection Service and the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Hanks handled the prosecution.
The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston.
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.
Updated January 7, 2015
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