FLORIDA MAN SENTENCED TO 3 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR ILLEGAL OXYCODONE DISTRIBUTION SCHEME

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin announced that a Florida man was sentenced on Monday (Oct. 29) to three years in federal prison for illegal distribution of oxycodone.  Jason Corley Padgett, 36, of Hampton, Fla., previously pleaded guilty in July.  Padgett admitted that he sold oxycodone to a confidential informant working at the direction of the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT) beginning in September 2010.  Padgett further admitted that a few of the illegal pill transactions occurred in Florida, but most of the transactions involved the defendant shipping quantities of oxycodone to Winfield, West Virginia. 

Padgett also admitted that he provided checking account information to the informant so that money could be deposited into an account before shipments of oxycodone were completed.  Bank account records revealed that more than $43,000 in cash deposits were made to the defendant’s account and 13 Federal Express packages were shipped from the defendant to the confidential informant between November 2010 and February 2011.  

On April 6, 2011, MDENT agents and investigators from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) used a confidential informant to arrange a controlled purchase of 200 30-milligram oxycodone tablets from the defendant in Jacksonville, Fla.  Padgett arrived at the prearranged location and was arrested.  Officers seized a loaded .38 caliber revolver from the defendant’s rental vehicle and 234 oxycodone tablets.  

The Putnam County Sheriff's Department, the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team and the Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation.  Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Hanks handled the prosecution.  The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers. 

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 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. 

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