BLUEFIELD, W.Va. - United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that Lawrence Ray Bennett, Jr., 31, of Los Angeles, California, pleaded guilty in federal court in Bluefield, West Virginia, to conspiracy to distribute hydromorphone. Bennett admitted that from July 2014 to September 2015, he and a co-defendant used the mail to ship and receive hydromorphone. Bennett mailed the drugs from California to his co-defendant, who then sold the pills in and around Bluefield and Princeton, and mailed the proceeds back to Bennett in California. During the investigation of the case, agents seized over 2,500 hydromorphone pills and approximately $19,000 in cash.
Bennett faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine. The sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 17, 2016, in federal court in Bluefield.
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 the Bluefield Pill Initiative, a collaborative, multi-agency regional law enforcement effort designed to halt prescription drug trafficking in Mercer, McDowell, and Wyoming counties. The Bluefield Pill Initiative is led by the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, which includes the West Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation; the Mercer, McDowell and Wyoming County Sheriff’s Departments; and the Bluefield and Princeton Police Departments.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
