CLEMENCY HOPES PINNED ON CRIST

A Man In Prison For Illegally Obtaining Pain Drugs Clears A Hurdle In
His Fight For Freedom

Richard Paey wants out of prison. He's serving 25 years for illegally
obtaining the medication he said he needs for chronic pain. He turned
down a lighter sentence because he doesn't think he did anything wrong.

His plight, his stand on principle, has earned him sympathy from
across the nation.

But not much help. Not until recently.

Now the Hudson man has cleared a major hurdle in what his lawyer calls
his "last real hope" for freedom: clemency.

The Florida Parole Commission recommended that Gov. Charlie Crist
waive a key rule so the state's chief executive can consider whether
to end Paey's days in prison.

That bureaucratic development is the first bit of good, concrete news
Paey, 48, has heard since his plight began.

"It's been a very difficult process, " said Paey's attorney, John
Flannery II of Virginia. "This is the first positive action that's
been helpful."

Pasco deputies and federal agents arrested Paey in 1997 after he
bought 1, 200 painkillers with fake prescriptions.

Three years ago, a Pasco jury reluctantly convicted the father of
three for a host of drug charges: possessing them, trafficking in them
and obtaining them by fraud. The judge reluctantly sent Paey to prison
to serve the mandatory sentence.

Paey said he needs the drugs for debilitating pain, the result of a
1985 car crash, failed surgeries and multiple sclerosis that left him
needing a wheelchair.

In December, an appellate court refused to overturn his conviction and
sentence. But those judges offered a glimmer of hope by acknowledging
his plight. While the courts did not have the power to act, the judges
wrote, Paey could ask the governor for help.

He did just that, petitioning Crist for clemency. In the meantime, the
Florida Supreme Court refused in March to hear an appeal in Paey's
case.

Paey considered an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. But then the
Florida Parole Commission's recommendation arrived June 7 - the
deadline for Paey to appeal to the nation's highest court.

"We thought if we did that it would discourage the clemency process, "
Flannery said, "and we wanted to show our faith in the clemency process."

Which means clemency is Paey's last realistic hope for getting out of
prison.

It takes the governor and two cabinet members on Florida's clemency
board to make a decision. They could commute Paey's sentence to time
served, or reduce it from the original 25 years. Crist has until
September to decide whether to grant the waiver and bring Paey's
petition before the board.

Normally a petitioner must have served at least a third of his
sentence before he can apply for clemency. But a waiver can be granted
to consider the case earlier if the appeal "demonstrates extraordinary
merit." The Florida Parole Commission recommended such a waiver in
Paey's case.

If Crist does not grant Paey's waiver within the 90-day time limit,
the appeal is denied.

In that case, Flannery believes his client will have to wait until
he's served a third of his sentence - about eight years, or until 2012
- - before Paey can ask for clemency again.

"The governor's clemency power is a power of grace ..., " the lawyer
said. "We hope he'll decide not only to commute Richard's sentence,
but that the time he's served is sufficient punishment for anything he
may have done."