BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – U. S. Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that a Mercer County man was sentenced to three years and one month in federal prison for illegally distributing prescription drugs. Benjamin Jamalle Lane, 35, of Mercer Co., W.Va., previously pleaded guilty in August to distribution of oxycodone. Lane admitted that on February 29, 2012, he sold two 30-milligram oxycodone pills, also known as "Roxicodone," to a person cooperating with law enforcement authorities. Lane further admitted that on March 5 and March 12, 2012 he sold two 30-milligram oxycodone pills to a confidential informant. The defendant also admitted that each of the illegal pill transactions took place near Montcalm, Mercer County, W.Va.
Lane admitted that he is responsible for distributing a total of 480 30-milligram pills over a four-month period.
Since June 2011, twenty-three individuals have been sentenced for illegally distributing prescription drugs and other illegal narcotics as part of the Bluefield Pill Initiative (BPI). The BPI defendants have been sentenced to a total of more than 43 years in prison.
The sentencing was imposed by United States District Court Senior Judge David A. Faber.
The Bluefield Pill Initiative is a collaborative, multi-agency regional law enforcement effort designed to halt prescription drug trafficking in Mercer, McDowell, and Wyoming Counties. The Bluefield Pill Initiative is led by the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, which includes the West Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation; the Mercer, McDowell and Wyoming County Sheriff's Departments, and the Bluefield and Princeton Police Departments. Assistant United States Attorneys Miller Bushong and John File are in charge of the prosecutions.
Benjamin Jamalle Lane
