MEADOWS GETS 78 MONTHS FOR OXYCONTIN DISTRIBUTION

RICHLANDS, Va. - A man was sentenced Monday to 78 months in prison for
distribution of the prescription painkiller OxyContin from a muffler repair
shop in Richlands, according to U.S. Attorney Randy Ramseyer. Thomas Alan
Meadows, 37, of Richlands, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to
distribute OxyContin, a schedule II controlled substance. The man was
sentenced by U.S. District Judge James P. Jones during a hearing in U.S.
District Court in Abingdon.

Meadows obtained OxyContin from various sources, including patients of area
doctors, and then sold them at a profit through his muffler repair shop in
Richlands.

Ramseyer said the man distributed the narcotics from the muffler shop over
a period of approximately two years.

"The amount that was discussed in the indictment was 7,000 pills," Ramseyer
said. "That's 300 a month, or 10 a day. He was pretty careful to sell it
only to people he felt comfortable with."

Ramseyer said the arrest was the result of an investigation by the Tazewell
County Narcotics Task Force.

The muffler shop is now closed.

Ramseyer said each of Meadows' co-defendents have pleaded guilty to
participating in the conspiracy. Four of the five already have been sentenced.

Robert Mack Stanford, 31, of Cedar Bluff, was sentenced to 46 months in
prison. Beatrice Helen Haden, 48, of Bluefield, was sentenced to 24 months
in prison. Her husband, Stanford R. Haden, Sr., 48, of Bluefield, was
sentenced to 18 months in prison. The remaining co-defendant, Freddie Lee
Dye, 28, of Cedar Bluff, is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 20, according
to Ramseyer.

"It shows just how much of a problem prescription drug abuse is in
Southwest Virginia," Ramseyer said.