Two members of Indiana family sentenced to federal prison for pain pill conspiracy

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Two members of a family from Indiana were sentenced today for their involvement in an oxycodone conspiracy, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. Linda Vannatter, 74, of Hammond, was sentenced to three years and a month in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute oxycodone. Vannatter’s son-in-law, Steven Jurick, 57, of Valparaiso, was sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute oxycodone.

Vannatter and Jurick admitted to conspiring with each other from approximately January 2016 until April 13, 2016, to provide oxycodone to an individual who distributed the pain pills in Logan County. That individual contacted either Vannatter or Jurick on several occasions and met with either or both of them in Indiana to obtain oxycodone. Vannatter admitted that on March 15, 2016, she sold 231 thirty milligram and 17 twenty milligram oxycodone pills to that individual, who on that occasion was acting as a confidential informant. Jurick admitted that on April 13, 2016, he sold 150 thirty milligram oxycodone pills to that individual, who on that occasion was again acting as a confidential informant. The drug deals both took place in Indiana.

The Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney John J. Frail is responsible for the prosecution. United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin imposed the sentences.

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.

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