Pubdate: Tue, 19 Dec 2006
Source: Post-Star, The (NY)
Page: A1, top left column, above the fold
Copyright: 2006 Glens Falls Newspapers Inc.
Contact:  http://www.poststar.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1068
Author: Don Lehman

MUSICIAN MAY FACE FELONY CHARGES

Washington County DA Says Charges Still A Possibility For Anastasio

Washington County District Attorney Kevin Kortright said Monday he  
has not ruled out filing a felony drug charge against a world- 
renowned musician arrested Friday in Whitehall.

Kortright said he wanted to review the State Police crime laboratory  
report on the drugs Ernest "Trey" Anastasio allegedly possessed at  
the time of his arrest, results of a urine sample and the rest of the  
evidence Whitehall Police assembled.

"We're going to take a look at it all and make a decision from  
there," the district attorney said.

Anastasio, 42, of Richmond, Vt., is the former frontman of Phish, a  
hugely popular jam band that broke up two years ago.

He was arrested in Whitehall about 3:30 a.m. Friday on misdemeanor  
charges he drove under the influence of drugs, illegally possessed 60  
prescription painkillers and an antianxiety drug and drove with a  
suspended license. He was on his way to Vermont at the time.

The pills were in a bottle that had the name of a New York City man  
on the prescription sticker. Police said Anastasio told them he had  
smoked hashish and taken pills before he was stopped for crossing  
over the center line on Poultney Street.

Whitehall Police Chief Richard LaChapelle acknowledged that amount of  
pills could lead to a felony drug possession charge, but said his  
office decided to file the misdemeanor possession charge and allow  
Kortright to decide whether a felony was warranted instead.

"I don't like to overcharge people," he said. "Some people would have  
charged him with that (a felony). But I hate taking a case and having  
it (the charge) reduced or thrown out."

LaChapelle said Anastasio told police he knew he had "a problem" and  
that he hoped to take care of it. Anastasio released an apology late  
Friday.

"He was most concerned about how this was going to affect his  
involvement with a youth orchestra in Vermont," LaChapelle said.

New York courts have drug court programs to assist those with drug  
problems, but because Anastasio is a resident of Vermont, he would  
not qualify for it unless he moved to New York, Kortright said.

Should Anastasio be convicted, LaChapelle said he'd like to see him  
sentenced to some type of community service that could assist the area.

"They should make him do something around here. How about a free  
concert in Whitehall?" he said with a laugh.

Meanwhile, LaChapelle said the media and Phish-fan frenzy that began  
when news of the arrest got out Friday morning continued into the  
weekend. LaChapelle said Court TV and a number of national news  
organizations contacted his office.

And on Saturday, a Phish fan from the Albany area made a trip to the  
Whitehall Police Department, telling officers he wanted to see where  
the arrest happened and meet the officers involved, the chief said.
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