ABINGDON, Va. (WJHL) — A Marion man who pleaded guilty in January to using Snapchat to order hundreds of fentanyl-laced pills from a supplier in California will serve three and a half years in prison.
According to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Kobe Malik Woods, 19, was sentenced on Tuesday to serve 42 months for one count of possession with the intent to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl.
Woods’ arrest and sentencing followed a months-long investigation surrounding an increase of illegal pill distributions in Smyth County involving multiple people. Investigators intercepted a shipment of 800 fentanyl pills from California addressed to Woods’ residence, according to court documents.
In June of 2021, investigators delivered a package to Woods’ Marion home and watched a woman take it inside. Police then executed a search warrant. Woods tried to escape with the package but was captured nearby, according to the release.
“Throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia and across the nation, individuals are struggling with substance abuse disorder, a disease fueled by those who profit from addiction,” U.S. Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh stated in a news release. “Fentanyl-laced pills pose a significant risk of death to anyone who ingests them, and my office will continue to bring individuals to account for trafficking these deadly drugs in our communities.”
The intercepted pills resembled pharmaceutical-grade oxycodone-hydrochloride pills but were not the same size, shape or color, according to the release. These pills are referred to as “Roxicodone,” “pressed” or “M30 pills” and often have an M imprinted on one side and a 30 on the other.
Agencies that investigated the case include the Smyth County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
