MOM HELD ON THREAT TO KILL SON'S DRUG SNITCH

Caught on camera in her son's cell vowing to kill the man who allegedly
dimed her boy out over an OxyContin deal, a Lynn woman was arrested
yesterday and faces 10 years in prison.

Susan Wagner, 42, later denied the threat but then told federal agents she
would get others to beat him up, according to investigators.

Her son, Robert Wagner, 24, is charged with buying the potent prescription
opiate from his boss, a plumbing contractor who sought to bump up his
income by smuggling $100,000 worth of the drug out of Cancun, Mexico.

The plumber was busted by U.S. Customs officials on July 20 in Atlanta with
three candy boxes in his luggage full of 5,000 pills in 20-milligram doses.

He opted to cooperate and helped investigators stage a set-up last Saturday
at a White Hen Pantry in Saugus where he was supposed to meet Wagner.

Wagner showed up at 3:20 p.m. and accepted pills while agents secretly
recorded the deal.

By Monday, Susan Wagner was visiting her son's cell at the Saugus Police
Department, where video recorders captured their conversation.

Robert told his mother that he thought his dealer had set him up.

Wagner erupted in anger, vowing to have someone "kill him," investigators
claim in court documents.

A DEA agent confronted her outside of Lynn District Court that same day and
told her about the taped conversation.

Wagner denied threatening to have the informant killed but admitted she
wanted him to feel some pain, according to the agent.

"S. Wagner reiterated that she would have his 'ass beat in.' She added that
'I'll do it,' and that she'd have him 'taken care of,' " DEA agent Samuel
J. Masiello said in an affidavit.

Robert Wagner faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine
if convicted on charges of possession of the drug with intent to distribute.

OxyContin, a time-released painkiller, has skyrocketed in popularity among
heroin users. More than 30 pharmacies in the state have been robbed of the
drug so far this year.