SPOKANE — The leader of an illicit painkiller operation that moved thousands of OxyContin pills to Spokane from California has been sentenced to 50 years in federal prison.
The Spokesman-Review reports that Arvin Carmen’s sentence closes a three-week jury trial that ended in November. Carmen as well as Donta Blackmon, Brandon Chavez and Karlynn Tones were all found guilty of multiple crimes tied to the distribution and sale of the prescription opiate.
Investigators began following Carmen in Los Angeles in 2011. They learned he and members of a street gang were recruiting women to fly pills bought in California to Spokane, where they were sold at a premium.
A January 2013 indictment named 62 co-conspirators, many of whom pleaded guilty to lesser crimes.
