News and Press Releases

DOJ Seal

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA

William J. Ihlenfeld, II
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY


1125 Chapline Street, Federal Building, Suite 3000 ● Wheeling, WV 26003
(304) 234-0100 ● Contact: Fawn E. Thomas, Public Affairs Specialist

August 5, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Florida Resident Enters Plea to Oxycodone Charge

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA - A 27-year old Ormond Beach, Florida, resident entered a plea of guilty in United States District Court in Wheeling before Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr.

United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II announced that RICHARD ROUSH entered a plea of guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute Oxycodone from at least February of 2010 to March 26, 2011, in the Ohio and Marshall County, West Virginia, areas. ROUSH, who is in custody pending sentencing, faces a maximum exposure of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $1,000,000.

As part of his plea ROUSH admitted to engaging in “doctor shopping” with at least two other Florida residents and then providing the pills they obtained to the leaders of the conspiracy. ROUSH and other co-conspirators are responsible for acquiring over 100,000 Oxycodone pills in the State of Florida that were then transported to the Ohio Valley for redistribution.
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.