CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A St. Albans man pleaded guilty today to a federal drug crime, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. Kenneth Dale White, Jr., 31, entered his guilty plea to conspiracy to obtain controlled substances by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception, and subterfuge.
White admitted that prior to April 2015, he came into possession of a pre-printed prescription pad belonging to a local doctor. Between April 12, 2015, and May 7, 2015, White and a codefendant recruited other individuals to fraudulently obtain pain pills. The recruited individuals were directed by White or the codefendant to go to pharmacies in the Kanawha County area to obtain oxycodone and Xanax by presenting fraudulent and forged prescriptions to the pharmacies. The recruited individuals would be paid cash to fill the fraudulent prescription or be allowed to keep a small amount of the pain pills fraudulently obtained. The remaining pills were returned to White or the codefendant.
White faces up to four years in federal prison when he is sentenced on March 6, 2017.
The case against White was investigated by the Dunbar Police Department, the South Charleston Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant United States Attorney Timothy D. Boggess is in charge of the prosecution. The plea hearing was held before United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston.
This case was 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.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
