A Buchanan County man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for running $9 million worth of pain pills, mostly OxyContin, through far Southwest Virginia over an eight-year period, officials said.

David Joe Shelton, 37, of Mavisdale, was also sentenced last week to 20 years for possessing the drugs with the intent to distribute, but the sentences will run concurrently, according to Heidi Coy, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western District of Virginia.

Nine million dollars works out to more than 220,000 OxyContin pills and more than 100,000 Tylox pills.

Tylox and OxyContin are both prescription painkillers, and OxyContin has been hailed as a savior for patients who suffer from acute pain. But the growing abuse of OxyContin and the crime it creates has overwhelmed law enforcement in many parts of the country, including far Southwest Virginia.

Shelton was convicted in April 2005 after a three-day jury trial in U.S. District Court in Abingdon.

Coy said evidence showed that Shelton, who owns a coal trucking company called Lightning Inc. of Buchanan County, was paying his employers in painkillers.

In addition, evidence showed Shelton had made at least 20 trips to Mexico to pick up large quantities of OxyContin pills. He would then smuggle the pills back into the United States and distribute them to sellers in Buchanan and Tazewell counties, Coy said.

All of this occurred between 1995 and 2003.

U.S. District Judge James Jones also ordered Shelton to pay a $3,000 fine.

Several law enforcement agencies assisted in the case, including the Tazewell and Buchanan county sheriff's offices, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Texas Department of Public Safety.