ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Marc Harding, 29, of Broad Run, Va., pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiring to distribute oxycodone. 

            Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema. 

            Harding faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison he is sentenced on Dec. 2, 2011.

            In a statement of facts filed with his plea agreement, Harding admitted to working in concert with others to obtain quantities of oxycodone and to distribute oxycodone to customers in Prince William County and elsewhere.  Harding transcribed and altered a legitimate prescription into a file on his computer and then created a template for a fraudulent prescription that he and his co-conspirators used to manufacture fraudulent prescriptions for more than 7,000 tablets of 30 mg Roxicodone.  That template later spread to other oxycodone-abusers in the Northern Virginia area and was eventually used by numerous prescription fraud rings, three of which have already been arrested and convicted in the Eastern District of Virginia.

            Oxycodone is a commercially available, pharmaceutical narcotic analgesic that can be used to treat moderate to severe pain.  Oxycodone is classified by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a Schedule II controlled substance.  A Schedule II controlled substance is identified as one that has a high likelihood of causing addiction.  Oxycodone is the active ingredient in OxyContin and Roxicodone brand pills.

            This case was investigated by the FBI and is part of an ongoing Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation called Operation “Cotton Candy,” which has been focusing on the illegal distribution by numerous doctors, pharmacists, nurses, and patients of pain medication. Prince William County, Fairfax County, Manassas City and the Virginia State Police Departments assisted with the investigation. Special Assistant United States Attorneys Claire M. Murray and Andrew K. Mann are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.

 

 

 

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