OFFICER FACES OXYCONTIN DRUG CHARGES

Randall Robertson is charged with distributing the prescription painkiller.

A corrections officer at a Botetourt County prison has been charged with
distributing the prescription painkiller OxyContin.

The Botetourt County Sheriff's Office got a tip that a man was offering the
drug for sale and orchestrated a buy.

Chief Deputy Delbert Dudding said investigators obtained 20, 10-milligram
pills with a street value of about $200.

Deputies arrested Randall Robertson June 8 at the Botetourt Correctional
Unit office and charged him with distributing the drug.

In parts of Southwest Virginia, OxyContin has become the drug of choice for
addicts - leading to overdoses and increases in crime. Since 1998, 37 fatal
overdoses west of Roanoke have been attributed to oxycodone, the active
ingredient in OxyContin.

Robertson is the correctional officer who suffered several broken bones and
internal injuries in August 1998 when a car struck him as he conducted a
roadblock as part of the search for a Botetourt County prisoner who had
escaped from a work crew.

He later sued WSLS-TV (Channel 10) for $3 million, claiming its news crew
created a distraction that caused the accident. That case is still unresolved.

Robertson, who is out of jail on bond, could not be reached Thursday.