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By George Lewis &
Charles Mattox
News Reporter
George~bathconewsoutlook.com
chades~hec~lislemercury.com
Police say there's a
Sharpsburg, connection
in the so-called pill pipe-
line from Kentucky" to
Florida.
Angela Hedges 35, of
Sharpsburg, is charged
with one count of traf-
ticking in a controlled
substance, 1st degree, 1st
offense.
Police say Hedges, who
according to Transporta-
tion Cabinet Public Af-
fairs Officer Chuck Wolfe,
is an accountant for the
Kentucky Department of
Transportation, District 7
office in Lexington, orga-
nized and funded a road
trip to a pain clinic in
Jacksonville, Fla., where
three of her four compan-
Angelo Hedges
ions obtained illicit pre-
scriptions for Oxycontin,
a strong narcotic pain-
killer, from a doctor.
They came away with
prescriptions for 360
pills, police said, and
when they tried to fill
them at a CVS pharmacy
in Louisville, a pharma-
cist became suspicious
of the out-of-state scripts
and called police.
In addition to Hedges,
David Bascon, 49, of Lou-
By Charles Mattox
News Editor
chartes@thecarlislemercury.com
Under the condition of
also used pain pills recre-
ationally.
Both say money drives
the market.
Tom: "Your talking
anonymity, two individu- about easy money that
als, who have participated has gone on for years.
in the black market pain That's where it all start-
pill trade, which current- ed. People are going to
Florida because it's easy
ly has a strangle hold on
northeastern Kentucky,
spoke at different times
about the market as they
understand it and how
and why an entire region
has fallen under its influ-
ence.
'Tom and Bob' as they
will be called, are white
men between the ages of
40-50.
Both have lived in
northeastern Kentucky
almost all of their lives.
Both have used pain
pills as a result of medi-
cal need and following
surgery, and both have
money even though Doc-
tors in Florida will charge
$100-$300 just for an of-
fice call."
Tom also spoke about
"corrupt cops" and there
have been recent arrests
involving Rowan and
Lewis County law en-
forcement officers that
allegedly were involved
in the black market pain
pill industry.
"Anytime you create a
black market you create
corruption. People don't
understand how much
money some people in law
enforcement are pocket-
Michael Skeens
isville; Keith Markland,
37,. Louisville; Michael
Skeens, 35, of Clearfield;
and Patricia Stacy, 35, of
Sharpsburg, have each
been arl~ted and charged
with one count each of traf-
ticking in a controlled sub-
stance. Markland, on his
My Space page, says. he's
a 1992 graduate of Bath
County High Schcol.
Investigators portray
Hedges as the ringleader,
saying she organized and
ing," Tom said. "As long
as there is a black market
some law enforcement of-
ricers are willing to make
some extra money."
Bob's thought's echoed
those of Tom's
" Some police are more
crookeder than a crook,"
Bob said.
Bob said each trip to
Florida was lucrative.
• "You can get 230 of the
90 milligram oxycontin
pills each trip," he said
while stating that oxy-
contin pills were the most
powerful and most expen-
sive on the market.
When it was mentioned
that over 20 people in
Bath County had died as
a direct or indirect cause
of pain pills, Bob was
asked if doctors shared
the responsibility of the
deaths.
Bob compared the anal-
ogy to someone who sells
Patricia Stacy
funded previous pill-seek-
trips. The arrests oc-
curred the weekend of July
• 17-18, according to police.
The following Monday,
Louisville narcotics investi-
gators, including Sgt. john
McGuire of the Metro Nar-
cotics division, executed a
search warrant at Hedges
Farmhouse near Sharps-
burg, confiscated pills and
cited one person but made
no arrests, aocording to
Kentucky State Police, who
mm
ammunition or firearms
and how they should not
be responsible for anyone
who used a bullet or gun
to commit suicide.
"Get real, man," Bob
said. "Doctors don't want
to see anyone kill them-
selves, they want to see
them next month so they
can get some more cash.
Some doctors are going to
write as many prescrip-
tions as 'they can. That's
how they are getting
their money."
And Bob said cash is
what drives the market
and even causes some
who make the trip to
Florida to "shop around"
at different pharmacies
in different states to get
the 'best deal" on filling
their prescription. Bob
says different pharmacies
in different states charge
a different price for the
same number and brand
assisted in the raid.
"We were there to assist
them," said veteran Ken-
tucky State Police Officer,
Sgt. Jim Bowling, of KSP
Post 8, Morehead. "We
did find a small amount
of drugs, particularly pain
pills."
KSP detectives from
DESI (drug enforcement
special investigations) east
and DESI west, along with
another KSP officer, joined
Metro Police Officers and
Bowling on the scene.
Sgt. Bowling spoke frank-
ly about the pain pill black
market.
'2n my opinion we're
fighting a tough battle,"
Bowling said.
Bowling also commented
on the destructive pain
pills.
' rhey're killing people
and ruining lives," he said.
Florida is known as a
of pain pill.
Bob said anyone who
used any pain pills (oxy-
contin, percocet and lo-
ratab are the most pop-
ular pills, according to
Bob) recreationally was
"flirting with disaster,"
though he admitted he
himself used the drugs
when not in need of them
for pain.
"It's the best feeling
there is. And people will
use them as long as they
make them."
Bob said the black mar-
ket wasn't just'about
money, but was also
about sex.
' With some people
sex is a motivator to be-
come involved," he said.
' Women become less in-
hibited and become more
sexually aggressive."
When asked to esti-
mate how many citizens
from Bath, Nicholas,
leading source for the ille-
gal purchase of prescription
drugs. Addicts and dealers
from across the southeast
have flocked to sunshine
state pain clinics, which
have become notorious for
freely doling out narcotics
with little or no medical
justification. With the in-
crease in usage has come
an increase in deaths. Bath
County Coroner Robert
Powell said there have been
22 deaths in Bath County
in the past 36 months that
can be linked directly or in-
directly to overdoses of pain
pills or pail pill abuse.
Florida has seen a 249
percent increase in over-
dose deaths-in the past
five years, according to the
Florida department of Law
Enforcement.
SEE PIPELINE PAGE 5
Fleming, Robertson and
Menifee County, are reg-
ularly going to Florida to
acquire pain pills, both
Bob and Tom replied
"hundreds."
Bob said the pain pill
black market industry
was far more popular
than any other, and said,
"Anyone over the age of
22 could easily find pain
pills. They are more
available than marijua-
na. You'll find 'perc 30s'
before you can find a bag
of rag weed."
When asked if people
who didn't use the drugs
but were only financ-
ing the market were in-
volved, Bob was quick to
reply.
"Hell yes. They know
if they put out $900
they can easily get back
$2,000. Pain pills are a
better investment than
gold."
l!
By George Lewis
News Reporter
George@bathconewsoutlook.com
In 1944, a salesman
for a popular greeting-
card company coined
the slogan: "When you
care enough to send the
very best."
Now, a small and
spritely group of Bath
countians send the very
best by making their
own greeting cards from
scratch as members of a
card club, which meets
at the Bath County Me-
morial Library.
Hallmark, take heed:
and sometimes slightly
smart-alecky sayings;
ribbons; bobbles; bows
and myriad other em-
bellishments.
It's all very much like
scrapbooking in minia-
ture.
Card making is cer-
tainly a creative art
form, which you can
readily tell from the
handiwork of the
group's mentor, Brenna
Stamm.
Brenna, who helped
form the Club about a
year ago, is an indepen-
Your services may no pany, which markets its
longer be required.
The card clubbers
gather monthly around
a table laden with the
tools of their craft:
stickers; rubber stamps
and rollers bearing in-
grandmother's sewing
box.
''You can get lost in
it," Brenna said. "It's
addictive."
Becoming a card art-
ist requires a relatively
nominal initial invest-
ment, basically just
black ink and card stock.
As your imagination and
expertise expand, you'll
likely spend more and
more time browsing the
Stampin' Up! catalogue
with stars and color
schemes in your eyes.
The card clubbers
dent demonstrator for who gathered this day
the Stampin'Up! corn- seemed to have happily
tricate designs, cute
images (such as the tures fabric remnants,
ever-popular hoot owl) buttons and the like she
and heartfelt, catchy, salvaged from her late
put their cares aside as
arts-and-crafts wares they stamped and taped,
worldwide. The card swapped ideas and good-
world she has created naturedly goaded each
reads more like an artother.
journal tracing the fab- "You've got the wrong
ric of her life. One of her end!" one card clubber
intricately folded three- exclaimed to another.
dimensional cards fea-If you're interested
in joining the club, you
may contact the library
at 674-2531.
RIGHT: Beware: Making
greeting cards often leads to
scrapbooking. But unlike
unhealthful pursuits, you
needn't say no.
LEFT: From left, Brenna
Stamm, who mentors the card
clubbers,is joined by Sarah
Staten and Jerri Highley as
Cynthia Rogers leafs through a
greeting card
that's really more like a scrap-
book. Also participating in the card
club
were Holly Howard and Brenda
Vance.
