OxyContin Crime Round-Up for Week August 8
OxyContin Crime Round-Up The powerful painkillers OxyContin and oxycodone continue to be in high demand among drug addicts, some of whom will do anything to get their fix once doctors catch on to their patterns of abuse. Here is a weekly round-up of OxyContin drug crimes.
Boston Mailman Accused of Making Special Deliveries
Stephen Hale, a 30-year-old Gloucester mailman, pleaded not guilty to multiple charges stemming from an arrest after police used a warrant to search the home of one of Hale’s customers. Allegedly, Hale sold the powerful painkiller OxyContin, took $10 from a piece of mail he opened, and was found in possession of a small amount of Suboxone – a medication used to treat opiate drug addicts - when he was arrested while making his rounds, authorities said. The nine-year postal employee is currently on unpaid administrative leave and was released on $5,000 bail pending a hearing scheduled for early September. Additionally, Hale’s girlfriend, Amber Emery, 20, also of Gloucester, was also arrested and pleaded not guilty to larceny over $250 after she was accused of stealing $2,000 worth of jewelry from a friend and pawning it.
Senior Arrested for Stealing OxyContin Pills and War Medals
The Ottawa Police Street Crime Unit arrested a 65-year-old Ottawa man after seizing nearly 500 OxyContin pills, $9,000 in cash, three stolen credit cards, and six Canadian war medals from a downtown pawn shop. It is an offence to take into pawn any war medals under the pawnbrokers act. The OxyContin pills have an estimated street value of $2,500. The pawnshop owner, Maofid Saikely, faces charges including breach of probation, possession for the purposes of trafficking, trafficking and possession of proceeds of crime under and over $5,000.
Convicted Drug User Sentenced to 35 years in Prison
Caleb E. Soucy, 28, a convicted drug user, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the home invasion slaying of a Vancouver man. Soucey has convictions for possessing methamphetamine and jumping bail and was one of four masked gunmen who broke into a home in Washington. In July, Soucey pleaded guilty to first-degree felony murder of Charles N. Moore, 46, who was shot dead after confronting one of Soucey’s fellow robbers. In a felony murder case, prosecutors need only to prove the defendant committed a felony (robbery, in this case) and in the course of that felony a murder was committed.
The Clark County Superior Court Judge Roger Bennett said the crime, “illustrates the decline of society in general,” and particularly in Vancouver, where “rampant” use of methamphetamine and Oxycontin, coupled with a resurgence of heroin use, has led to “an explosion of violent property crimes.”
Detectives from the Vancouver Police Department also arrested getaway driver, Minna R. Long, 23, who pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree robbery. Long, who is pregnant with twins fathered by Soucy, faces between 10 and 14 years in prison but her sentencing was deferred until she gives birth in late December.
Twenty-two Year Old Maryland Woman Arrest for Armed Robbery
The Charles County Sheriff’s Office of Maryland arrested Amanda Lynn Taylor, 22, of Nanjemoy, for the armed robbery of a CVS Pharmacy in July. During their investigation of a CVS store in Waldorf, authorities found that a female suspect entered the store, concealed her face with a mask, displayed a handgun and ordered employees to the pharmacy area. Then, she robbed the pharmacy of OxyContin pills and fled from the store on foot. However, the robber failed to completely conceal her identity as she was caught on surveillance video as she entered the store. Authorities who have had previous contact with Taylor immediately recognized her in the surveillance video. Detectives continued with the investigation and discovered additional information connecting Taylor to the robbery. Taylor was charged with armed robbery, first- and second-degree assault, possessing a handgun, using a handgun in the commission of a felony/violent crime and felony theft and is currently being held at the Charles County Detention Center.