Police found 17 firearms, hundreds of marijuana plants at defendant’s residence
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A Fayette County pill dealer who sold approximately 250 powerful prescription painkillers over a two-year period pleaded guilty today to federal drug charges, announced U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin. Vernon Peters III, 35, of Kincaid, Fayette County, W.Va., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Charleston to distribution of oxycodone. On March 20, 2012, Peters sold three 30-milligram oxycodone tablets to a police informant. The pill transaction occurred at the defendant’s Fayette County residence.
On March 19, 2012, members of the West Virginia State Police seized approximately 17 firearms and 236 marijuana plants from the defendant’s residence. A number of firearms at the residence were located in close proximity to the marijuana plants.
In total, Peters illegally sold approximately 250 30-milligram oxycodone pills in and around Fayette County.
Peters faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine when he is sentenced on Aug. 22, 2013 by United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr.
The West Virginia State Police conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney John File is in charge of the prosecution.
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. 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.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
