A Kanawha County couple who distributed pain pills from stolen packages pleaded guilty earlier this week, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto.

Amber Fox, 28, of East Bank, entered her guilty plea to mail theft. David Grove, Jr., 39, also of East Bank, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute pain pills.

Fox was a federal postal support employee who worked in the Charleston Processing and Distribution Center. She used her job to steal pain pills by identifying packages that contained oxycodone and hydrocodone. Fox admitted that on March 17, 2015, she stole a package that contained 112 hydrocodone pills. After stealing the packages, Fox took the pills to the home that she shared with Grove in East Bank. Together, they took some of the pills themselves and sold the remaining pills. Fox admitted to stealing between 45 and 50 postal packages containing thousands of oxycodone and hydrocodone pills from August 2014 to April 9, 2015. On April 9, 2015, law enforcement executed search warrants at the East Bank residence and located over 500 stolen oxycodone and hydrocodone pills. Both Fox and Grove gave statements admitting their involvement in the mail theft and drug distribution conspiracy. Fox is no longer an employee with the United States Postal Service.

Fox and Grove are scheduled to be sentenced on December 12, 2017. Grove faces up to 20 years in federal prison. Fox faces up to five years in federal prison.

The United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General, and the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Erik S. Goes is in charge of the prosecution. The plea hearing was conducted before United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr.

This case is being prosecuted as part of an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of prescription drugs and heroin. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down illegal pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and heroin in communities across the Southern District.