FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Nov. 21, 2011
LOGAN COUNTY MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO FEDERAL OXYCODONE CHARGE
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Wayne A.Vance, 39, of Verdunville, Logan County, West Virginia, pleaded guilty today before United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr., to distribution of oxycodone. Vance admitted that on March 25, 2010, he sold seven 80-milligram oxycodone pills to an informant working for the US 119 Task Force in exchange for $700 cash. Between sometime prior to June 2008, until March 29, 2010, defendant Vance, along with several known associates, conspired with each other to distribute and sell oxycodone for profit in and around Verdunville, Logan County. Vance admitted that the oxycodone distribution primarily occurred at a Verdunville residence which he owned, but also took place at several other known locations in and around Logan County. The defendant admitted that he and his associates maintained only a small amount of oxycodone at the Verdunville residence in the event that law enforcement agents arrived at the location. Vance further admitted that on December 9, 2009, aided and abetted by an associate, he distributed four and one-half 80-milligram oxycodone pills to an informant working for the US 119 Task Force in exchange for $600 cash.
Vance faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine when he is sentenced on February 12, 2012.
This investigation was conducted by the US 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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