Florida Man Gets 10 Years for West Virginia Pill Trafficking

A Florida man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for prescription pill trafficking and money laundering.

Forty-six-year-old Lester W. Taylor of Daytona Beach, Fla., also was ordered in federal court in Charleston to pay a $10,000 fine.

Prosecutors say that from 2010 to 2014, Taylor sent packages containing thousands of oxycodone pills to Lincoln County. He also admitted obtaining prescriptions from physicians in Florida and then having them filled at pharmacies in West Virginia.

After distributing the pills, co-conspirators deposited the proceeds in West Virginia bank accounts bearing Taylor’s name. Prosecutors say he withdrew the money in Florida in an effort to conceal the source of the cash and pills.

A Barboursville pharmacy used for the activity underwent federal prosecution and is no longer in business.