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Williamsburg police arrest five people returning from Florida pain clinic
Posted On 21 Jan 2010
Over the course of less than six hours Thursday, Williamsburg police arrested two people for driving while under the influence and three for public intoxication, all of whom were returning to Kentucky after a visit to the same Florida pain clinic.
Williamsburg Public Affairs Officer Shawn Jackson, who was the investigating officer in both cases, said all five people had been to American Pain Clinic in Boca Raton.
"This is just more of the prescription narcotic pipeline from Boca Raton, Florida, to Central and Eastern Kentucky. This is a very popular method of operation for drug users these days in Kentucky," Jackson said.
"The problem that is originating in Boca Raton is ridiculous. We are ending up with a problem here in Kentucky because the doctors are prescribing such a large amount of narcotics to drug users and drug traffickers here in the commonwealth."
About 7:30 a.m. Thursday, Jackson was patrolling on the interstate when he stopped a vehicle heading north on I-75 near the 13-mile marker, which was driving erratically.
"It has kind of become a trend for these people to come through our area very early in the morning," Jackson said. "I noticed this vehicle weaving in and out of the lane of travel that was driving with no regard for public safety.
"Upon conducting a traffic stop, I noticed right off the bat that the driver appeared to be highly under the influence with slurred speech and he was very unsteady on his feet."
Jackson charged driver Richard A. Lanter, 27, of Paris, with careless driving, operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol/drugs, first-degree possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, no insurance, tampering with physical evidence, operating on a suspended/revoked operators license, and failure to wear seatbelt. He charged both passengers, Cynthia L. Brown, 35, of Cynthiana, and Shauna R. Hughes, 30, of Millersburg, with public intoxication. Jackson said that the two women had obtained legal prescriptions for Oxycodone and Xanax, which were in their proper containers.
"It is an unbelievable amount that these people are coming back with after one visit to the doctor. It just blows my mind every time I deal with these people," Jackson noted.
The driver also had some Oxycodone and Xanax pills, but he had no prescription, Jackson said. Lanter had prior felony convictions, including one for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and Jackson said he will probably ask the grand jury to issue a persistent felony offender charge too.
Shortly after 1 p.m., Jackson arrested a duo from Estill County that had also been to American Pain Clinic in Boca Raton. He stopped a 1996 Toyota near the 14-mile marker after observing it weaving in and out of its lane of travel, according to the arrest citation. Initially, the couple told police that they had gone on a trip to Gatlinburg, but Jackson said that after a few conflicting statements they confessed to going to American Pain Clinic. Jackson charged driver
Donald L. Stone, 29, of Ravenna, with careless driving, driving under the influence, first-degree possession of a controlled substance, and third-degree possession of a controlled substance. Jackson charged passenger Jacqueline R. Murphy, 36, of Irvin, with public intoxication, possession of drug paraphernalia and for having a prescription controlled substance not in its original container. He said that Murphy had obtained prescriptions for Oxycodone and Xanax, but that Stone had suspected Oxycodone and Xanax pills on him without having a prescription.
Police seized various drug paraphernalia including needles, syringes, and a pill crusher, Jackson said.
"The driver stated to us that he had been shooting up Roxies, which is a type of Oxycodone that has become very popular in this area for drug users," he said.
Jackson said that police will refer the information in both cases to the DEA for further investigation.
"We have logged all information on the subjects, the prescriptions, the doctors, and every bit of intelligence and information we can get on this is forwarded to the DEA," Jackson said. "We will continue a partnership with them and cooperate with them to see that this problem is handled accordingly."
All five were lodged in the Whitley County Detention Center. Bird, K-9 Officer Brandon Prewitt and Officer Jason Strunk all assisted with the investigation.
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Talk about free advertisement! Heck, the clinic don’t even need to spend money to recruit patients, leave it to the media.
It is a shame that people can’t just go get an honest job and earn an honest living. They would rather sell these highly dangerous drugs to people with no remorse when they kill them with over doses and destroy families.
I’m sorry, but I think that clinic and others like this one need to take responsibility and ascertain tougher rules. People who live in states as far away as Kentucky, for example, should not be allowed to receive perscriptions in a state as far away as Florida.
I believe they should have to obtain proof of residency of no more than 100 miles away. They also should have to make it mandatory that they have a primary physician who refers them.
This is utterly ridiculous how easy it is for individuals to obtain these medications. People who honestly need them have a tougher time getting them then people who you can look at and tell they are drug users.
I was in an automobile accident that caused me to have a surgery that ruined my life. I have to jump through hoops and follow strict rules to obtain the medications I need to just be able to live from one day to the other without being bed fast from horrific pain that I live with.
It just makes me boil on the inside knowing that it is so easy for people to walk in a so called medical facility and get whatever they ask for and the doctors go home at night and sleep with a clear conscious!
I commend our Police Officer, DEA and other agencies for risking their lives to try and make our communities and schools a safe and respectful place to raise our children.
DEA I AM NOT SAYING I AM DEA IM GIVING MY INITIALS JUST TO BE CLEAR
It is not illegal to go out of state to seek medical attention.But is illegal to bring your medication back and sell it, like a bunch of people do,thats why it is becoming a big problem. Look at the people who got pulled over, they were either driving bad because they were messed up on a bunch of narcotics, had needles in the car ,all kinds of paraphernalia,no driver license. Weaving in and out of traffic,u might as well had a pull me over sign on ur car. The sherriff of Whitley county is saying find another way to go, but what is it that makes it illegal to bring ur prescriptions from one state to the other,as long as u have all of ur medication in the proper container.How is that illegal? Now i know some people that has been pulled over before, and there was nothing illegal about what they were doing, and some how they went to jail ,because of that one dick head cop.The sherriff in Whitley county I cant blame him for doing his job and getting those out there that is driving under the influience of something, and having needles in the car, and all the other illegal stuff. But i do disagree if I go out of state get my legal medication come back do everything legal and get pulled over for no reason at all, then yea there would be a problem. JUST REMEMBER IF YOU NEED UR MEDICINE LIKE I DO AND U DONT SELL IT OR ABUSE IT THEN IT IS NOT ILLEGAL TO GO ANY WHERE IN THE UNITED STATES AND SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION.
first you dont walk in pay and get pills, not that easy….mri,referalls and precription history are required Ya Know made a stupid comment…. Fl. is making it illegal for you people to come here to get your fix….find a way to keep your junkies in your state
they did not make a drug bust here. all they did was get somebody for dui which is fine but it is not like this is great police work or anything. the prescriptions are perfectly legel.
I have a nieces who lives in florida and shes a part of families against drugs and a neighborhood watch program ,and when they get a drug dealer of drug addics in their neighbor hoods the for aliances and the police offices assist and the go out together and let everyone know theres drug dealers and drugh addics living in their neighborhoods and the neighbors take action.and the drug dealers a addics move on else where .maybe this should happen here in kentucky.
georgia has so called drug clinics as well and we all know very well that they are illegal .but it happens.and no one seems to care .and the sad part is tax payers get to pay the bill for these drug dealers and drug addads.and I for one am fed up .and I sick to death of seeing some one killed by these idiots.and they go free as well .so if cought they get a slap on the rist and let go free. wheres the justice now.its all over not just in fla ,and georgia , virginia as well.a lot comes this way .I fed up and we need to do something now not later on.
I would like to thank all of the officers involved that arrested these drug addics and dealers,and to thank the officers for catching them and maybe putting them all away for a very long time .and personally speaking theses clinices should be put out of business onece and for all.Thanks again to the officers for a job well done .they also need to chech out the babtist housing in corbin they my just find a little bit going on there .
THEY ARE NOT ILLEGAL CLINICS, JUST SO YA KNOW. Florida has NO limit on prescriptions, all ya gotta do is walk in, pay your dues, walk out, the end.
I volunteer at a ladies drug rehab facility in Jessamine Co. and now realize the HUGE pill addiction problem. Is there anything I can do as a concerned citizen to help? Would contacting legislators in KY or FL be of any value? It is so sad to see homes and families being destroyed by these drugs. I am thankful police officiers are arresting people but FL also needs to do more to shut these illegal clinics down.