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The former mayor of a Kanawha County town has pleaded guilty to oxycodone distribution.
Ex-Pratt Mayor Gary Fields entered the plea Thursday in federal court in Charleston.
The 68-year-old Fields admitted selling six oxycodone pills to a confidential informant on April 23.
Fields is set for sentencing on Jan. 21.
Fields lost his re-election bid in June.
Pratt Mayor Gary Fields said he will step down if re-elected in an upcoming city election.
The Charleston Gazette reports Fields was arrested by Kanawha County sheriff’s deputies on Wednesday as part of a joint county and federal drug investigation into the distribution of narcotics. Fields was indicted by a federal grand jury this week on a charge of distributing oxycodone and is scheduled to appear for an arraignment June 11.
Officers say the crime happened April 23. Fields was also charged with drug possession in 2013 and a DUI in 2014.
Town elections are scheduled for Tuesday. Fields is running against Eric Holcomb, a town councilman.
Fields’ current term as mayor ends June 30.