BECKLEY, W.Va. - A Summers County pill dealer pleaded guilty today in federal court to drug charges, announced U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin. Michael Harshaw Jr., 36, of Hinton, Summers County, W.Va., pleaded guilty in federal court in Beckley to distribution of oxycodone. On Oct. 3, 2012, Harshaw sold five oxycodone tablets to an individual cooperating with law enforcement authorities. The pill transaction occurred at Harshaw’s Summers County residence.
Harshaw faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine when he is sentenced on Oct. 10, 2013 by United States District Judge Irene C. Berger.
The West Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations 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
