Pubdate: Wed, 03 Mar 2004 Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL) Copyright: 2004 St. Petersburg Times Contact: http://connect.sptimes.com/contactus/letterstoeditor.html Website: http://www.sptimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/419 Author: Richard Raeke Referencecd: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1664/a03.html NEW DRUG TRIAL STARTS FOR PAIN PATIENT Prosecutors Say Richard Paey Created A "Prescription Factory" In His House To Meet His Need For Painkillers NEW PORT RICHEY - On the first day of Richard Paey's drug trafficking trial, the prosecutor made it clear to the jury that Paey did not sell any of the 1,200 pills. At issue is how Paey obtained the painkillers. Paey, who uses a wheelchair and suffersfrom chronic pain after flawed back surgery, created a "prescription factory" in his house to meet his need for the painkillers Percocet and Lortab, said Assistant State Attorney Scott Andringa. During opening arguments, Andringa told the jury that Paey, 45, forged the prescriptions of Dr. Steven Nurkiewicz. He had been Paey's doctor in New Jersey and continued to treat him, even after Paey moved to Florida in 1994. Nurkiewicz testified Tuesday that he thinks the severity of Paey's condition kept doctors in Florida from taking him on as a patient. Nurkiewicz said he would write Paey prescriptions for painkillers or call them in to a pharmacy. Investigators say Paey began forging those prescriptions in 1996. Nurkiewicz said Paey told him to ignore phone calls from pharmacies in Florida as he was taking courses at the police academy and conducting undercover drug buys. In fact, investigators from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Pasco County Sheriff's Office began tailing Paey in late 1996 because of the number of prescriptions he had. For three months, they watched Paey enter various pharmacies. Paey's attorney, Robert Attridge, said that Nurkiewicz did oversee the contested prescriptions. But when the volume of pills attracted the attention of the DEA and the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, Nurkiewicz denied authorizing them, fearing he had become the subject of an investigation, Attridge told the jury. Prosecutors had shown a willingness to offer Paey plea bargains but those were rejected. In 2002, Paey was offered probation and house arrest. He wouldn't plead and was convicted in July 2002 of eight counts of trafficking in oxycodone, commonly known as Percocet. Soon after, he won a new trial when Senior Judge Richard Beach ruled that he failed to have two mental health experts examine Paey's competency to stand trial. Prosecutors offered Paey a three-year prison sentence in October 2002. Again, he rejected it, setting the stage for this week's trial. Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Daniel Diskey is presiding. If convicted, Paey faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh