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News Release [print
friendly page] Guilty Verdict in Conspiracy to Burglarize Pharmacies NOV 5 --East St. Louis, IL - Randy G. Massey, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced that on November 2, 2007, a federal trial jury returned a verdict of guilty against LEAMON A. HATFIELD, age 40, of Oceana, West Virginia. HATFIELD was convicted of Conspiracy to Unlawfully Enter Pharmacies With the Intent to Steal Controlled Substances. The jury trial began on Monday, October 29, 2007, in United States District Court in East St. Louis, Illinois. The jury deliberated for approximately 2 hours before returning its verdict. HATFIELD will be sentenced in United States District Court in East St. Louis on February 8, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. HATFIELD faces a potential federal prison sentence of up to 10 years. Four other co-defendants who were charged in the same indictment entered guilty pleas prior to the trial. The four co-defendants will also be sentenced in February 2008. According to the one-count indictment, HATFIELD conspired with the four codefendants and others to commit pharmacy burglaries in southern Illinois and elsewhere between 2001 and 2004. Witnesses at trial testified that the group committed approximately 100 pharmacy burglaries in a dozen different states. These burglaries included break-ins at pharmacies in Fairfield, Illinois; Flora, Illinois; Benton, Illinois; Carmi, Illinois; Mattoon, Illinois; McLeansboro, Illinois; Eldorado, Illinois; and Crestwood, Missouri. The investigation which resulted in the conviction in this case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorney Robert L. Garrison prosecuted the case.
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