10 INDICTED IN PAINKILLER SALES

DEA Official Says OxyContin Being Widely Abused In Carolinas

A federal grand jury indicted 10 people Thursday suspected of illegally
selling 50,000 tablets of a prescription painkiller in the Carolinas and
two other states.

Nine of the suspects are from Iredell County; one is a Salisbury resident.

The drug, OxyContin, gives a euphoric high like heroin. Its use and abuse
has risen in recent years, authorities say. Last year, 21 people died from
overdoses in North Carolina.

"The drug is still being widely abused in the Carolinas," said David
Dongilli, head of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration's Charlotte
office.

Dongilli said these are among the most significant indictments in the
Carolinas since federal authorities started tracking fraudulent OxyContin
prescriptions a few years ago.

The suspects are accused of operating in North Carolina, South Carolina,
Virginia and West Virginia, according to the indictment returned in
Charlotte, which did not detail their activities.

The DEA and Iredell County Sheriff's Office conducted the seven-month
investigation with authorities from Greensboro, Durham and the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

If convicted of conspiring to obtain and distribute the drug, the
defendants could each serve a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison with no
parole.

Indicted Thursday were Alan Keith Ashley, 36, of Statesville; Robert James
Asbury, 45, of Statesville; Ernest Robinette Jr., 38, of Mooresville; Gary
Allen Bost, 48, of Statesville; Melissa Witherspoon Britt, 33, of
Statesville; Wayne Arnold Brown, 39, of Mooresville; Johnny Mack Brown, 54,
of Statesville; Jonathan Scott Davis, 30, of Statesville; Brian Keith
Jones, 36, of Statesville; and Marty Shane Atwell, 27, of Salisbury.

Jones and Atwell have not been arrested yet.

"With this investigation," Dongilli said, "we've focused on people who we
believe are major distributors in the area."