JAIL TIME HINDERS MARKET FOR DRUG

Kenton County prosecutors say prison sentences meted out to those who
illegally bought and sold the prescription pain-killer OxyContin have
helped limit the growth of the once-popular drug.

"The word is on the street: It's not going to be tolerated," said Assistant
Commonwealth Attorney Michael Folk.

More than half of the people arrested in Covington earlier this year during
an investigation of illegal sales and use of OxyContin have pleaded guilty.

Five of the 11 have been sentenced to prison, and another is expected to
plead guilty next month to charges that will carry a prison sentence, Folk
said.

Two people have pleaded guilty in exchange for probated sentences, said
Folk, who is prosecuting all of the cases. Charges against the remaining
three are pending.

"Most of them are pleading and going to prison," Folk said. "We have good
cases against them, and the ones going to prison are all drug dealers."

Two people expected to escape prison time - Stephen Wayne Hopkins, 50, of
Covington and Charles Herbert Lay, 43, of Park Hills - were not actual
dealers, Folk said. Both pleaded guilty to complicity to trafficking and
will be sentenced next month.

The five sentenced to prison - Ruthie M. Browning, 49, of Park Hills,
Jeffrey John Hale, 38, of Covington, Gary F. Erdman, 58, of Covington,
Steven Iles, 36, of Covington, and Robert Edward Oldham, 51, of Fort
Mitchell - all pleaded guilty to trafficking charges. All were sentenced to
five years in prison.

OxyContin delivers a steady dose of a prescription pain-killer and is used
by cancer patients and others with chronic pain.

On the street, the pills are crushed, then inhaled or injected for a high
users say is similar to cocaine.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and Covington police began an
investigation into its use in Northern Kentucky last last year and quickly
focused their attention on Larry's All-American Bar at Ninth and
Philadelphia streets.

Folk said the raid and arrests at the bar in February has had a definite
influence on the area's drug culture. At the time, the drug was becoming
popular in the area.

But a series of drug busts, and doctors' growing awareness about misuse of
the drug, have caused illegal supplies to dry up.

"The street price of OxyContin has gone up because we made a dent in it,"
Folk said. "Did we take it off the streets? No. But we put a big dent in it."