To hear federal authorities tell it, William and Roxanne Granberry’s marriage was a real-life mashup of “The Sopranos,” “Breaking Bad” and “The Fast and the Furious.” He organized a ring that sold prescription painkillers on the black market. She controlled the cash, managing her husband’s addiction to gambling and race cars.
But Roxanne Granberry’s defense attorney said that story is as fantastical as the movies it resembles.
“All of this is trash. It’s fiction. It’s a fairy tale,” Jonathan Simms told a jury Tuesday, during opening statements in Granberry’s trial. He said the mother of two had no idea about her husband’s dealing.
Both sides agree that William Granberry and an assortment of relatives were, over five years, writing fake prescriptions for opioids, filling them at various pharmacies in the Washington area and beyond, then selling the drugs. He and eight other conspirators have pleaded guilty; five more defendants face trial. Together, officials estimate that the group obtained about 65,000 oxycodone pills.
Prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia are now trying to convince a jury that Roxanne Granberry played a role in that scheme. The office has aggressively targeted prescription opioid dealers in recent years as overdose deaths in the region and nationally have skyrocketed.
“Oxycodone can save your life,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Gene Rossi said in his opening statement. “However, when it’s used illegally, it can become what’s called heroin in a pill.”
Rossi told the jury that Roxanne Granberry bought several fancy cars and expensive jewelry that could not have been legally paid for by her or her electrician husband. A salesman will also testify that Roxanne Granberry gave him a $26,000 cash down payment on a backyard pool, Rossi said.
“The Granberrys were not an ordinary married couple,” Rossi said. “She was not an ordinary mother.”
Authorities first learned of the ring in 2013, after the arrest of a person who had passed a fake oxycodone prescription in New York, according to court papers. That defendant, identified only as “D.T.” in court papers, told authorities about the network.
The group forged the signatures of actual doctors and sometimes used fictitious patient names, court papers say. Runners, often using rental cars, filled the prescriptions at pharmacies in states including Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania, then returned the drugs to William Granberry.
Simms argued that Granberry, who is set to be sentenced Friday, kept his wife in the dark about his drug-dealing and extramarital affairs. The Hughesville, Md.-based couple had separate bank accounts and at one point were separated, the lawyer said. William Granberry had his own apartment, where evidence of his drug-dealing was found and where witnesses said he met both his associates and his mistresses.
“If I had to count the number of times he lied to my client, we’d be here all day,” Simms said. “If I had to count on my hands the number of times he cheated on my client, I’d run out of fingers.”
Roxanne Granberry, Simms said, was simply a hardworking elevator specialist and mother.
Nikko Moses, William Granberry’s brother, testified Tuesday that at one point Roxanne Granberry told him that her husband “was not allowed to do anything . . . because of his financial irresponsibility and the things he did with money. She was in charge.”
Moses testified that Roxanne Granberry introduced him to one oxycodone buyer, gave cash to him and was present when he got prescription papers and brought bottles to her husband. At one point, he said, Granberry indicated to him where prescription papers were waiting.
Andre Granberry, another brother, testified Wednesday that at one point when he asked for a raise for his role filling fake prescriptions, William Granberry called his wife to get permission.
“Just give it to him,” he recalled Roxanne Granberry saying.
Both Moses and Andre Granberry have pleaded guilty to involvement in the conspiracy and have hopes of reduced sentences in exchange for their testimony.
Andre Granberry’s wife, Jennifer Granberry, testified Wednesday that she took a trip to Georgia with both her brother-in-law and his wife, Roxanne, to try and fill oxycodone prescriptions at a clinic. When they got back, she said, Roxanne Granberry said she was “not going to be able to take off again for this crap.”
Jennifer Granberry was given immunity in exchange for her testimony.
All three witnesses acknowledged under cross-examination that they had lied to authorities and given inconsistent statements about Roxanne Granberry’s involvement in the scheme. All agreed that they dealt primarily with her husband, often at his rental property, and that William Granberry lied to and cheated on his wife regularly.
None of the people who sold pills, Simms said, are being called to testify by prosecutors, because none of them dealt with Roxanne Granberry at all.
Rossi himself said from the outset that Roxanne Granberry is not accused of writing or filling fake prescriptions or of selling opioids.
“Roxanne Granberry had some role in a conspiracy,” Rossi said. “She didn’t have to be the kingpin.”
Roxanne Granberry is charged with conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, a felony. If convicted, she could face 20 years in prison.
