Kevin Eugene Petty, Prescription Pill Trafficking, West Virginia 2012

BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – A local man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in distributing prescription pills in the area. Kevin Eugene Petty, 36, of Bluefield, was sentenced to eight years in prison for distributing hydromorphone pills, and an additional two years for violating the conditions of his supervised release. Petty’s crimes date back to September 20, 2012, when he distributed 10 hydromorphone pills in Bluefield.

Petty’s sentencing is a result of the Bluefield Pill Initiative, an ongoing effort by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of prescription drugs. The initiative has led to numerous arrests and convictions in the region.

Petty is the latest defendant to be sentenced in connection with the Bluefield Pill Initiative. He was one of four defendants to plead guilty in 2013, admitting to distributing prescription pills in the area. The other defendants include Jason Robert Davis, Bobby Michael Short, Jr., and Darryl I. Shrader.

Davis, 28, of Bluefield, Virginia, was sentenced to three years and 10 months in federal prison for distributing five hydromorphone pills on January 31, 2012, near Princeton. Davis also admitted to selling a total of 125 hydromorphone pills, 125 oxycodone pills, and 25 oxymorphone pills between 2010 and 2012.

Short, 47, of Princeton, was sentenced to one year and three months in federal prison for distributing one hydromorphone pill on May 17, 2013, in Princeton. Short also admitted to distributing a total of 75 hydromorphone pills.

Shrader, 54, of Spanishburg, was sentenced to three years of probation for distributing four hydromorphone pills on January 28, 2013, in Bluefield. Shrader also admitted to distributing eight more hydromorphone pills during January 2013.

The Bluefield Pill Initiative has been a success in combating the illicit sale and misuse of prescription drugs in the region. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, along with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to continuing this effort and protecting the communities of the Southern District.

Additionally, a federal inmate appeared before Judge Faber and pleaded guilty to possessing a weapon in a federal correctional facility. Billy Williams, 24, an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution at McDowell, near Welch, admitted to possessing a homemade knife on October 29, 2013, while serving time at the prison. Williams faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced on July 7, 2014.

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