Prescription Pill Dealer Sent to Prison

Defendant Virgil Leon Crawford pled guilty as charged Monday to two counts of Possession with Intent to Sell Oxycodone and one count of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Dangerous Felony. Crawford was sent to prison for nine years. Assistant District Attorney Sean McDermott of the Repeat Offender Prosecution Unit handled the case for the State.

The cases arose out of a Knoxville Police Department investigation into drug activity at 1009 Dinwiddie Street in Lonsdale. Officers with KPD’s Repeat Offender Squad executed a search warrant at the house on October 3, 2011. Virgil Crawford was found to be in possession of prescription pills. After making bond on that case, Crawford went back to Dinwiddie Street and continued selling prescription drugs. On three occasions, Crawford sold Oxycodone pills to an informant working with KPD. Based on those buys, KPD officers executed a second search warrant on the house in March 2012. Again, Crawford was in possession of prescription pills and a firearm. The District Attorney’s Office sought a nuisance injunction and padlocked the house after the second search warrant. The DA’s Office also successfully sought to revoke Crawford’s bond, and he has been held in custody without bond since March 2012.

If you have any questions, please contact Sean McDermott at 865-215-2515 or Sean.McDermott@knoxcounty.org. For more information about the District Attorney’s Office, visit our website at dag.knoxcountytn.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.