I know the sentence won't be what he gets, but it looks like DC is getting tired of the pill peddlers
A Dickenson County, Va., jury recommends a sentence of 135 years and $600,000 for a man they convicted of selling six pills
Friday, Aug 17, 2007 - 12:45 AM
BY Debra McCown
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Bristol Herald Courier
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A Dickenson County jury recommended a sentence of 135 years and a $600,000 fine on Thursday evening for a man they convicted of selling six prescription pills.
"This is the stiffest sentence I've heard of anywhere around," said Dickenson County Commonwealth's Attorney Joe Short. "I think the people of Southwest Virginia are sick and tired of drug addiction, and they're looking for solutions."
The jury deliberated about an hour before convicting Jody Bill Powers, 49, of selling the prescription pills on three separate occasions within 1,000 feet of a school.
The 2005 sales were two OxyContin tablets on April 4, two more on April 5, and two Morphine tablets April 6, Short said.
Powers sold the drugs at the Centennial Heights apartment complex where he lived outside Haysi, he said.
After the jury found Powers guilty of the offenses, the panel recommended 40 years for each count of distribution and five additional years on each for the sales in proximity to a preschool.
It is standard for a jury to recommend a sentence but the final decision is left to a judge, who will consider the jurors' recommendation.
Short said drug distribution cases rarely go before a jury because Southwest Virginia jurors tend to be harsh on drug dealers, and many drug dealers plead guilty rather than face a jury's decision.
"We take it quite seriously in Dickenson County," Short said. "Dickenson County and our district have been leading the state for giving the stiffest sentences for distribution of drugs."
Powers' sentencing hearing will be Dec. 13 before Judge Henry Vanover. In the meantime, Powers is being held at the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail in Haysi.
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