CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A Florida man was sentenced today in federal court in Charleston, West Virginia, to 10 years in federal prison and a $10,000 fine for participating in an oxycodone distribution and money laundering conspiracy, announced United States Attorney Booth Goodwin. Lester W. Taylor, 46, of Daytona Beach, Florida, previously entered his guilty plea to conspiracy charges concerning distribution of oxycodone and laundering the proceeds of his criminal activities.
From January 2010 through May 2014, Taylor was involved in trafficking pills from Florida to West Virginia using a variety of illicit methods. Taylor sent several packages containing oxycodone pills to Lincoln County for illegal distribution. Law enforcement intercepted one of those packages on January 8, 2011, which contained 1,000 30mg oxycodone pills. Taylor also admitted to obtaining prescriptions for oxycodone and hydromorphone from physicians in Florida and then having the prescriptions filled at pharmacies in West Virginia. The pharmacy primarily used for this unlawful activity, A+ Care Pharmacy, formerly located in Barboursville, has since been prosecuted in federal court by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia, and is no longer in business.
After distributing the pills, Taylor’s co-conspirators deposited the proceeds in West Virginia bank accounts bearing Taylor’s name. Taylor would then withdraw the money in Florida in an effort to conceal the source of the cash and the pills.
The West Virginia State Police, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, and the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Monica D. Coleman handled 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 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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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
