FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Dec. 5, 2011
LOGAN COUNTY MAN SENTENCED TO PRISON ON OXYCODONE DISTRIBUTION CHARGE
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Dennis J. Cooper also known as “P.J.,” 36, of Verdunville, Logan County, West Virginia was sentenced today to 97 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release by United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. for conspiracy to distribute oxycodone. Cooper admitted that from May 2009 until March 29, 2010, he was involved in a drug trafficking organization that distributed oxycodone in and around the Logan County area. Cooper admitted to conspiring with several associates to distribute and sell oxycodone for profit at known residences located in Mud Fork and Verdunville, Logan County. Cooper further admitted to selling approximately five 80-milligram oxycodone pills to an informant working for the U.S. 119 Task Force in exchange for $500 cash on October 6, 2009. The defendant also admitted to selling approximately two 80-milligram oxycodone pills to an informant in exchange for $200 cash the following week, on October 15, 2009. On March 29, 2010, Cooper, aided and abetted by a known associate, distributed approximately one-half of an 80-milligram oxycodone pill to an informant in exchange for $50 cash. The oxycodone pills sold by the defendant were submitted to the West Virginia State Police Forensic Laboratory and proved to contain oxycodone.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. 119 Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney William King is in charge of the prosecution.
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. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by various federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, remain 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.
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