Two Bluefield Men Sentenced To Federal Prison For Prescription Drug Offense

BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that two Bluefield men were sentenced in federal court for distribution of prescription drugs.  Leonard Graves III, 31, of Bluefield, Virginia, was sentenced to eighteen months in federal prison for distribution of oxycodone.  Graves pled guilty in January of 2014, admitting that in September of 2013, he distributed 20 oxycodone pills in the Bluefield area to a person cooperating with police.  As part of his plea, Graves admitted that he sold a total of 269 oxycodone pills. 

Jermaine Holland, 31, of Bluefield, West Virginia, was sentenced to fifteen months in federal prison for distribution of hydromorphone.  Holland pled guilty in December of 2013, admitting that in July of 2013, he distributed two hydromorphone pills from his Bluefield home to a person cooperating with police.  Holland also admitted that he sold several additional hydromorphone pills, and that he possessed two firearms and kept them near the drugs and money he earned from selling drugs. 

These cases were investigated by the Southern West Virginia Drug and Violent Crime Task Force and the prosecution was handled by Assistant United States Attorney John File.  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 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.