PAIN DOCTOR'S SENTENCING TODAY

Dr. James Graves could go to prison for the rest of his life when he is
sentenced today.

State guidelines call for Graves, 55, to be sentenced to 40 years.

"That's a death sentence for him," said his attorney, Ed Ellis, who will
ask for less time.

Circuit Judge Kenneth Bell can go beyond or below the guidelines. He is
expected to strongly consider comments from the family of patients who died.

Last month, Graves became the first doctor in the country convicted of
manslaughter for overprescribing OxyContin. Four patients overdosed and died.

One was Jeffrey Daniels, 30, who died Nov. 10, 1999. His parents, Raymond
Lester and Jane Daniels, sat through the entire, six-week trial. They will
ask for the maximum sentence today.

"I want his pain to go on just like ours has," Jane Daniels said. "And the
only way for him to feel it is if he is in prison. He's a criminal, and he
should be treated as a criminal."

Along with four counts of manslaughter, Graves was convicted Feb. 19 on
five counts of unlawfully deliverying a controlled substance and one count
of racketeering.

A Santa Rosa County jury decided Graves illegally prescribed a combination
of drugs, dubbed the "Graves cocktail," to dozens of patients. They
concluded he should have known the mixture of OxyContin in two strengths,
Xanax, Soma and Lortab would lead to death or injury.

OxyContin is a time-release, synthetic opiate painkiller. Addicts get a
heroin-like high by crushing the pills and injecting them.

Graves, who testified for three days, said he treated his patients' pain
correctly. Other patients, he said, were drug addicts who lied to get their
fix.

The Pace doctor said he continued to prescribe drugs for patients and
addicts who had needle marks because otherwise, they would get them on the
street.

Jane Daniels, whose son did not use drugs intravenously, rejected Graves'
assertion he was running a legitimate pain-management practice.

"Maybe other doctors will take a look at this and not prescribe so much,"
she said. "If that is pain management, then we have a real problem in this
country."

Thursday, Bell denied a defense motion for a new trial.

Among attorney Mike Gibson's arguments were that the charges should have
been tried separately so the jury would better understand the evidence.
Gibson said the manslaughter charges were based on "circumstantial
evidence" and did not warrant a conviction.

Graves also faces two additional counts of Medicaid fraud. He is scheduled
to be arraigned on those charges April 22.

[SIDEBAR]

Court appearance

a.. WHAT: Sentencing of Dr. James Graves.

b.. WHEN: 9 a.m. today.

c.. WHERE: Santa Rosa County Courthouse on Caroline Street in Milton.