Ohio man sentenced for role in pill distribution ring

CHARLESTON, W.Va.  – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced that David Frizzell, 44, of Grove City, Ohio, was sentenced today in federal court in Charleston to five years’ imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release. Frizzell previously pled guilty in September of 2014, to conspiring with others to sell prescription pills containing hydrocodone.  Frizzell admitted that he arranged and financed multiple trips to Florida where eight or nine people on each trip obtained prescription pills that were later sold in the Charleston area and in Ohio.  The drug ring was responsible for buying and reselling more than 60,000 Lortab pills during the nearly two-year conspiracy.

The successful prosecution of Frizzell and his associates was the result of an investigation conducted by the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (“MDENT”).

This case is 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 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.