R. Booth Goodwin II, United States Attorney
Southern District of West Virginia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Melvin Smith
June 1, 2011 melvin.smith@usdoj.gov
HUNTINGTON WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO FEDERAL OXYCODONE CHARGE
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Julie Eplion, 23, of Huntington, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court before United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers to distribution of oxycodone. Eplion admitted that on August 19, 2009, she sold 93 80-milligram oxycodone and 14 40-milligram oxycodone pills to a confidential informant working with the West Virginia State Police. The informant also provided the defendant with $5,500 cash to settle a previous drug debt. Following the controlled buy, officers executed a search warrant at the defendant’s Huntington residence and recovered the $5,500 that was given to Eplion by the informant, along with an additional $1,000, 58 80-milligram oxycodone pills and 40 40-milligram oxycodone pills.
Eplion faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine when she is sentenced on October 11, 2011.
This case was investigated by the West Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI). Assistant United States Attorney Monica Dillon 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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