NEW DRUG TRIAL STARTS FOR PAIN PATIENT

Prosecutors Say Richard Paey Created A "Prescription Factory" In His
House To Meet His Need For Painkillers

NEW PORT RICHEY - On the first day of Richard Paey's drug trafficking
trial, the prosecutor made it clear to the jury that Paey did not sell
any of the 1,200 pills. At issue is how Paey obtained the
painkillers.

Paey, who uses a wheelchair and suffersfrom chronic pain after flawed
back surgery, created a "prescription factory" in his house to meet
his need for the painkillers Percocet and Lortab, said Assistant State
Attorney Scott Andringa.

During opening arguments, Andringa told the jury that Paey, 45, forged
the prescriptions of Dr. Steven Nurkiewicz. He had been Paey's doctor
in New Jersey and continued to treat him, even after Paey moved to
Florida in 1994. Nurkiewicz testified Tuesday that he thinks the
severity of Paey's condition kept doctors in Florida from taking him
on as a patient.

Nurkiewicz said he would write Paey prescriptions for painkillers or
call them in to a pharmacy. Investigators say Paey began forging those
prescriptions in 1996. Nurkiewicz said Paey told him to ignore phone
calls from pharmacies in Florida as he was taking courses at the
police academy and conducting undercover drug buys.

In fact, investigators from the Drug Enforcement Administration and
the Pasco County Sheriff's Office began tailing Paey in late 1996
because of the number of prescriptions he had. For three months, they
watched Paey enter various pharmacies.

Paey's attorney, Robert Attridge, said that Nurkiewicz did oversee the
contested prescriptions. But when the volume of pills attracted the
attention of the DEA and the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, Nurkiewicz
denied authorizing them, fearing he had become the subject of an
investigation, Attridge told the jury.

Prosecutors had shown a willingness to offer Paey plea bargains but
those were rejected. In 2002, Paey was offered probation and house
arrest. He wouldn't plead and was convicted in July 2002 of eight
counts of trafficking in oxycodone, commonly known as Percocet.

Soon after, he won a new trial when Senior Judge Richard Beach ruled
that he failed to have two mental health experts examine Paey's
competency to stand trial. Prosecutors offered Paey a three-year
prison sentence in October 2002. Again, he rejected it, setting the
stage for this week's trial. Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Daniel
Diskey is presiding.

If convicted, Paey faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 25
years.