FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Sept. 11, 2012
HUNTINGTON MAN ADMITS TO FEDERAL OXYCODONE DISTRIBUTION CHARGE
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that a Huntington man pleaded guilty in federal court to aiding and abetting the possession with intent to distribute oxycodone. Kawan Michael Wells, 24, admitted that on April 14, 2010, he and two associates distributed approximately 2 ½ 80-milligram oxycodone pills to a confidential informant working with the U.S. 119 Task Force. Wells further admitted that the illegal pill transaction took place in Holden, Logan County, W.Va.
On April 14, 2010, members of the U.S. 119 Task Force executed a search warrant at a Holden residence and arrested the defendant and other known individuals. At the time the search warrant was executed, law enforcement agents seized approximately 127 80-milligram tablets. The defendant admitted that he and an associate brought the oxycodone pills from Huntington, W.Va. to Logan County for the purpose of distributing them.
Wells faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine when he is sentenced on December 18, 2012 by United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston.
The U.S. 119 Task Force conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Hanks is in charge of the prosecution.
This case is being 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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