TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution secured a total of 60 years in prison for a man trafficking prescription opioid pills in Florida. OSP secured the latest sentence Thursday, for Costadaryll Hughley, an Orange County man. The 15-year sentence for trafficking in Oxycodone 25-100 grams and Sale and Delivery of Hydromorphone will run consecutively with the 45 years in prison previously secured by OSP. The sentences follow a three-year investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Attorney General Moody’s OSP.
Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “This case is a textbook example of how criminals exploit the excess supply of prescription opioids pouring into our state. Thankfully, through the hard work of the DEA and my statewide prosecutors, this drug trafficker should never be in a position to peddle dangerous and addictive opioids to Floridians ever again. Interdiction efforts like this are just another way we are fighting to end the opioid crisis in Florida and save lives.”
In 2012, the DEA discovered Hughley dispensing large amounts of prescription opioid pills into the Lake County community. According to the investigation, Hughley was observed in 2014 acting as a sponsor of two individuals outside a pharmacy in Lake County. A sponsor is a person who pays for a patient’s doctor’s visit and prescription for a portion of the pills.
Hughley then provided his phone number to a DEA confidential informant, under the auspices of selling pills. The confidential informant subsequently made five controlled purchases from Hughley, totaling approximately 220 pills from Feb. 2014 to Oct. 2015.
Based on testimony from co-defendants in this case, Hughley obtained approximately 3,000 Oxycodone pills and 4,000 Hydromorphone pills in the period of two years from patients he sponsored.
The OSP charged Hughley with a total of 16 counts, including: one count of trafficking in Oxycodone; 14 counts of sale and delivery of Hydromorphone, Oxycodone and Cocaine; and one count of unlawful use of a two-way device.
The OSP prosecuted the case, over three severed trials in Aug. 2017, June 2019 and Oct. 2019. Hughley has been sentenced to a total of 60 years in the Department of Corrections with a 15 year mandatory minimum.
