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News Release [print
friendly page] West Virginia Man Sentenced for FEB 11 -- East St. Louis, IL - A. Courtney Cox, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced that on February 8, 2008, LEAMON A. HATFIELD, age 40, of Lynco, West Virginia, was sentenced to 38 months’ imprisonment for “Conspiracy to Unlawfully Enter Pharmacies in Order to Steal Controlled Substances.” HATFIELD was found guilty of the charge on November 2, 2007, following a jury trial in United States District Court in East St. Louis, Illinois. According to evidence presented at trial, HATFIELD and at least four other co-defendants committed approximately 40 pharmacy burglaries in at least 10 states between 2001 and 2004. In Southern Illinois, the group burglarized pharmacies in Harrisburg, Greenville, Carmi, Mt. Vernon, McLeansboro, Metropolis, Caseyville, Fairfield, El Paso, Flora, Mattoon, and Herrin. The total value of the controlled substances stolen in all 40 of the burglaries was approximately $250,000. Four other co-defendants pled guilty prior to HATFIELD’s trial and testified for the Government: Sheila Acklin was sentenced on February 1, 2008 to 19 months’ imprisonment. Codefendants Joseph Fuston, Pamela Hatfield (Defendant LEAMON HATFIELD’s sister-in-law) and Connie Sue Stevens await their own scheduled sentencing hearings in May, 2008. The investigation which resulted in the conviction of LEAMON HATFIELD and four codefendants was conducted by special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration assigned to St. Louis, Missouri, and by special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assigned to Fairview Heights, Illinois. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert L. Garrison. ########
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