FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Jan. 12, 2012
KANAWHA COUNTY WOMAN SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS IN PRISON FOR ILLEGAL DISTRIBUTION OF OXYCODONE
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Tama Sue Williams, 52, of London, Kanawha County, W.Va., was sentenced today to four years in prison by United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr. for distribution of oxycodone. Williams previously pleaded guilty in October. On March 25, 2010, an informant working with the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT) contacted the defendant by telephone in order to arrange a controlled purchase of oxycodone. At the time of the prearranged drug transaction, the informant advised the defendant that an associate would pick her up outside of her residence. The defendant admitted that she subsequently directed the informant’s associate, who unbeknownst to the defendant was an MDENT detective, to drive to a location in Nitro to meet her pill source of supply. Williams further admitted that the detective provided her with $1,800 in pre-recorded currency prior to the arranged pill transaction. After the defendant received the pre-recorded currency, she exited the detective’s vehicle and returned moments later with 30 80-milligram oxycodone tablets. Following the drug transaction, Williams waived her Miranda rights and agreed to be interviewed by police. Williams admitted that she had been the “middle-man” for transactions involving thousands of oxycodone tablets.
The defendant further admitted that the pill source that she met with at the time of the controlled purchase in March 2010 had provided her with approximately 2,300 oxycodone tablets.
This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT). Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Hanks handled 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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