PENNINGTON GAP — A criminal complaint filed in federal court in Abingdon Friday contains allegations against Pennington Gap’s embattled police chief that accuse of him of plotting the robbery of a local pharmacy and using and selling prescription drugs on numerous occasions, including while in uniform.
William Brian Young, 41, 1187 Middle Wallens Creek Road, Stickleyville, was still in uniform and carrying a loaded sidearm when he was arrested by special agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives shortly after stepping out of his police cruiser at the Lee County Courthouse Thursday evening.
Young, who is in federal custody after being denied bond at an arraignment hearing Friday in Abingdon, faces felony charges of possession of a Schedule II drug (Percocet) with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm by a user of controlled substances and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.
The charges placed against Young come as the result of a nearly two-year-long, multi-agency investigation into his alleged drug use and dealing, and his acquaintance with several alleged drug dealers.
A federal affidavit filed in U.S. District Court also lays out allegations that Young was intimately involved with planning and helping to carry out the Sept. 28 burglary of the Rite Aid Pharmacy in Pennington Gap that saw approximately 5,400 prescription narcotics taken.
The affidavit states that Young was on duty the night of the burglary and at one point met a Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputy, asking him which other officers were on duty and who was working central dispatch.
The court documents also show that Young contacted the deputy in question 15 minutes before the pharmacy was robbed at 2:50 a.m. to check his whereabouts.
Text message data obtained by search warrant Oct. 15 reportedly showed that Young sent several messages to his brother the day before and day of the burglary.
Texts sent from Young to his brother from 5:55 a.m. until 6:26 a.m. the morning of the burglary included an exchange that included phrases like “Where is the stuff” and “There were more of them 10-650 (pills) than I thought/A couple had over 1000.”
The affidavit alleges that on Oct. 18, an informant met Young — who was in uniform and armed — at his house and purchased 20 Percocet pills with money provided by law enforcement.
After his arrest, Young reportedly admitted to selling the pills and trading others for another painkiller called Roxicet. Young allegedly told ATF agents he had been “an illegal user of controlled substances for a number of years.”
While executing a search warrant on Young’s residence, authorities reportedly found a large quantity of Percocet, firearms and money used by the informant to purchase pills. Several pills were also allegedly found in Young’s Pennington Gap police cruiser and authorities said they discovered what appeared to be opened evidence bags in the vehicle’s trunk.
A suspect in the burglary who was interviewed by authorities told investigators that Young proposed the burglary and even called the perpetrators from Lee County Central Dispatch to tell them it was clear to carry out the break-in.
According to court records, authorities first became suspicious that Young was abusing prescription pills in March 2012 when a confidential informant told a Pennington Gap PD investigator that Young was seen at a convenience store in the Stickleyville community purchasing narcotics from a suspected drug dealer.
Young allegedly purchased, and even sold, drugs in public numerous times, and on several occasions while in his police uniform and vehicle.
Those accusations resulted in a Virginia State Police investigation into Young’s actions.
The documents show that shortly after Young was made aware of the investigation, he went to Lee County Sheriff’s Office narcotics investigators and informed them he would like to “do something about drug dealing in the Stickleyville area.”
During that conversation, Young reportedly provided investigators with a list of names of 18 alleged drug dealers, including Steven Fritz, whose home in Stickleyville was searched following Young’s arrest Thursday.
Investigators state in the affidavit that they believed Young came forward to cooperate out of concern over the internal VSP investigation.
While meeting with narcotics investigators, Young was reportedly informed not to contact or initiate drug buys with any of the 18 people on the list while he was alone.
Young reportedly told investigators he had little contact with the 18 people on the list and that he only knew of their activities because he purchased prescription drugs from them prior to becoming a police officer.
Records show, however, that Young made 105 phone calls to Fritz between November 2011 and July 2012. During the months of May and July — when he approached authorities to help them — Young reportedly called Fritz over 40 times and sent him over 40 text messages. The contents of several text messages were contained in the affidavit, and showed Young using what agents deemed drug slang to conduct transactions.
Agents also revealed in the affidavit that they obtained information that Young had taken counterfeit money from the Pennington Gap Police Department’s evidence room to make purchases at retailers in Lee County. An informant also reportedly told investigators that Young had traded weapons taken from the department’s evidence room for prescription pills.