FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Aug. 7, 2012
KENTUCKY MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO ILLEGAL PRESCRIPTION DRUG POSSESSION CHARGE
Law enforcement agents seize more than 2,100 painkiller tablets during search of defendant’s motel room
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that a Kentucky man pleaded guilty in federal court to possession of prescription drugs with intent to deliver. James R. Thompson, 34, of Louisa, KY, admitted that on February 21, 2009, he was staying at a rented motel room in Cross Lanes, W.Va. That same day, law enforcement agents with the Kanawha County Bureau of Investigations conducted a search of the defendant’s motel room and found a bag containing approximately 2,089 whole 7.5 milligram hydrocodone tablets, 73 10-milligram oxycodone tablets, 49 30-milligram oxycodone tablets, 30 2-milligram alprazolam tablets, also known as “Xanax,” 49 .5-milligram alprazolam tablets, and a .45 caliber pistol.
The defendant was previously convicted in December 1997 in the Court of Common Pleas, Pickaway County, Ohio, of felony burglary. Thompson did not have his rights to possess a firearm restored.
Thompson faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine when he is sentenced on November 14, 2012 by United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston.
The Kanawha County Bureau of Investigations conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Hanks is in charge of the prosecution.
This 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. 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 in communities across the Southern District.
This case is also being brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nationwide commitment to reduce gun crime in the United States by networking existing local programs targeting gun crime.
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