Md. Woman Faces Stiff Prison Sentence for Role in Oxycodone Ring

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ALEXANDRIA, VA -- A Maryland woman faces up to 20 years in prison for her role in a drug ring that illegally obtained about 130,000 oxycodone pills and sold them in Virginia and neighboring states.

On Monday, a federal jury in Alexandria convicted Roxanne Granberry, 35, of Hughesville, Md., on charges of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and obtaining oxycodone by fraud, according to Dana Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Oxycodone is an opioid pain medication that can be highly addictive.

According to court records and evidence at trial, Roxanne Granberry and her husband, William Granberry, created fraudulent prescriptions and used drug runners in pharmacies in Virginia and other states to obtain thousands of oxycodone tablets, Boente said.

The Granberrys "recruited individuals to drive to pharmacies and pass the prescriptions, and also engaged in direct sale and distribution of the oxycodone to numerous buyers in Virginia and other states," said a statement from Boente's office.

Thirteen other members of the drug ring have been convicted, according to Boente. Under sentencing guidelines, Granberry faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison when she's sentenced on Sept. 16 by U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga.

This case is part of Operation Circuit Breaker, an effort by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) to stop the illegal procurement and sale of prescription pain medication across the mid-Atlantic region and elsewhere, according to Boente's office. The effort focused on Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Georgia, Connecticut, Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.

The OCDETF is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies funds to federal and state agencies involved in the investigation and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations