Princeton area man pleads guilty to role in hydromorphone conspiracy

BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that Peter B. McKinley, Jr., 32, of Princeton, West Virginia, plead guilty in federal court in Bluefield to conspiracy to distribute hydromorphone.  McKinley admitted that from  July of 2014 to September of 2015, he and a co-defendant used the mail to ship and receive hydromorphone.  McKinley received the drugs in packages mailed from Los Angeles, California.  He then sold the pills in and around Bluefield and Princeton, West Virginia.  After the sales, McKinley admitted that he mailed packages containing drug proceeds back to California.  During the investigation of the case, agents seized over 2,500 hydromorphone pills and approximately $19,000 in cash.    

McKinley faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.  United States District Judge David A. Faber scheduled the sentencing for February 17, 2015.

The Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force and the United States Postal Service conducted the investigation.

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 and opiates.  The United States 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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