AGE-OLD PLEA BY GRANNIES

Two alleged drug-dealing grannies pleaded not guilty yesterday to
indictments charging they peddled painkillers at $10 a pill from their
Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, apartments.

Russian-born Roza Shusterman, 80, and her friend Faina Kodner, 78, cited
the infirmities of old age as factors in their defense.

"The defendant is a very sick woman. She's 80 years old," said Shusterman's
lawyer, Joseph Mure. "I'm not sure she realizes what she did."

Mure said Shusterman, who has previous drug convictions, suffers from
diabetes, high blood pressure and lung problems.

He said she is also under psychiatric care.

Shusterman pleaded guilty to drug possession in 1993 and 2000, according to
court records.

Yesterday, as Shusterman hobbled across the courtroom aided by a walker,
the Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Anne Feldman was startled to learn that
the elderly defendant had prior run-ins with the law.

"She's a predicate felon!" the judge exclaimed after eying Shusterman's rap
sheet.

Assistant Brooklyn District Attorney Colleen Babb said Shusterman
apparently had been reimbursed by a government medical program for the cost
of the prescription pills she sold.

'I don't feel so good'

Kodner showed up in court with a bandage on her cheek, saying doctors had
just removed a "melanoma."

She said she also suffered from diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney
problems and bad hearing.

"I don't feel so good," said Kodner, an alleged first-time offender who has
three grandchildren.

Each woman is accused of selling pills three times to undercover cops, who
found more drugs in their apartments.

If convicted, the grandmothers face up to 25 years in prison.