Source: United States Attorneys General
Headline: Detroit man pleads guilty to illegally possessing pain pills
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Detroit man caught with oxycodone in September 2017 pleaded guilty today to a federal drug crime, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart. Curtis Holcomb, 39, entered his guilty plea to possession with the intent to distribute oxycodone. U.S. Attorney Stuart commended the investigative efforts of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the West Virginia State Police Violent Crime and Drug Task Force.
“Any Detroit drug dealer who comes to Huntington to push pain pills is in for a rude awakening,” said U.S. Attorney Stuart. “We will keep working with our law enforcement partners to make sure these out-of-state criminals get the message – they’re not welcome and we’re taking back our streets.”
On September 15, 2017, agents with the DEA and the West Virginia State Police Violent Crime and Drug Task Force used a confidential informant to arrange a purchase of 500 oxycodone pills from Holcomb. On his way to meet the informant, a trooper with the West Virginia State Police conducted a traffic stop on Holcomb’s vehicle on Artisan Avenue in Huntington. Troopers searched Holcomb and recovered 454 thirty mg oxycodone pills in his sock. As part of the plea agreement, Holcomb admitted to all the drug trafficking activity charged in the indictment.
Holcomb faces up to 20 years in federal prison when he is sentenced on May 7, 2018.
Assistant United States Attorneys Joseph F. Adams and Stephanie S. Taylor are handling the prosecution. The plea hearing was held before United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers.
This drug prosecution is 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 and heroin. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and heroin in communities across the Southern District.