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August 17, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Three members of large pill conspiracy enter pleas in
Federal Court

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA — Three individuals entered pleas of guilty this week in United States District Court in Wheeling before Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr. relating to their involvement in a sophisticated conspiracy to bring large quantities of pain pills from Florida to the Ohio Valley for redistribution.

United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced that:

CHRISTOPHER GRIGG, age 24, of Bridgeport, Ohio, entered a plea of guilty on August 15, 2011, to one count of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone from February of 2010 to March 26, 2011; and, one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments from February of 2010 to April of 2011 in Ohio and Marshall counties. GRIGG, who is in custody pending sentencing, faces a maximum exposure of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $1,000,000 on the drug conspiracy charge and 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $500,000 on the laundering charge.

GRIGG was one of the leaders of the organization but his involvement came to an end in Florida on March 25, 2011, when Florida police officers stopped the vehicle GRIGG was driving and found 6,543 oxycodone pills, 294 Xanax pills, and $15,500 in cash in the car. GRIGG and a co-conspirator had planned to return to the Ohio Valley with the pills before the traffic stop.

ROBYN JONES, age 23, of Kissimmee, Florida, entered a plea of guilty on August 16, 2011, to one count of count of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone from February of 2010 to March 26, 2011. JONES, who is free on bond pending sentencing, faces a maximum exposure of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $1,000,000. JONES and two other Florida residents caused between 100,000 and 150,000 pills to be redistributed in the Ohio Valley.

JOSH MONTGOMERY, age 24, of Moundsville, West Virginia, entered a plea of guilty on August 16, 2011, to one count of distribution of oxycodone on July 26, 2010, in Moundsville, West Virginia. MONTGOMERY, who is free on bond pending sentencing, faces a maximum exposure of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $1,000,000.

The case was prosecuted by USA Ihlenfeld and Assistant United States Attorney John C. Parr. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the West Virginia State Police-Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Ohio Valley Drug & Violent Crime Task Force, the Moundsville Police Department, the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, the Martins Ferry Police Department, the Volusia Bureau of Investigations - Central Florida HIDTA, and the Drug Enforcement Administration in Orlando, Florida. The Ohio Valley Drug & Violent Crime Task Force consists of the Wheeling Police Department, the Ohio County Sheriff’s Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.