CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Two St. Albans men pleaded guilty today to federal drug crimes, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. Travis Matthew Scarberry, 33, and Christopher David Ford, 37, both entered guilty pleas to obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception, and subterfuge.
Scarberry admitted that on April 18, 2015, he obtained oxycodone and Xanax by presenting a prescription that he knew to be fraudulent to the Rite Aid pharmacy in St. Albans. Ford admitted that on April 16, 2015, he obtained oxycodone by presenting a prescription that he knew to be fraudulent to the Fruth Pharmacy in Cross Lanes. Both Scarberry and Ford admitted that they knew the prescriptions were not valid because they had never been patients of the doctor whose name was on the preprinted prescription pad.
Scarberry and Ford each face up to four years in federal prison when they are sentenced. Scarberry is scheduled to be sentenced on January 9, 2017. Ford is scheduled to be sentenced on January 11, 2017.
The case against Scarberry was investigated by the Dunbar Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The case against Ford was investigated by the Dunbar Police Department, the South Charleston Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant United States Attorney Timothy D. Boggess is in charge of the prosecutions. The plea hearings were held before United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston.
These cases are 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 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 illegal pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and heroin in communities across the Southern District.
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