"YOUTH" PEDDLER RECEIVES 13 YEARS

A judge ruled Thursday that a local pharmaceutical entrepreneur will spend
the next 13 years in prison for illegally selling a "Fountain of Youth" drug
to thousands of mostly old, sick people over the past decade.

But James T. Kimball, 60, still insists he did nothing wrong.

"As far as what I did, I did for humanity," Kimball told the judge. "What I
did I believe was a humanitarian thing to do ... I didn't need the money and
I wasn't in it for the money."

But U.S. District Judge Richard Lazzara didn't believe him.

"Mr. Kimball just does not respect authority, he does not respect the law
... especially when it gets in the way of the what's truly important - the
almighty dollar," Lazzara said.

The case was so extraordinary, Lazzara ruled, that he gave Kimball
substantially more than the average sentence. That increased Kimball's
prison term by about nine years.

State and federal agents who had spent nearly a decade investigating Kimball
didn't leave the courtroom during the six-hour hearing. When U.S. marshals
led him away, they expressed relief that the case was finally over.

A jury convicted Kimball in May of eight crimes, including conspiracy,
unlawful distribution of a misbranded drug and making false statements to
U.S. Customs. The trial, which lasted more than three weeks, centered on the
distribution of deprenyl.

Deprenyl is a key ingredient in Eldepryl, a patented drug used to treat
Parkinson's disease that is available only by prescription. The federal Food
and Drug Administration requires a doctor's approval for it because
deprenyl, which the government says is chemically related to
methamphetamines, causes dangerous side effects when combined with some
foods and other medications.

But in Kimball's opinion, the drug has only helped people. He claims the
drug slows aging, improves sex drive and reduces the effects of some
brain-degenerating diseases, and insists his case is about the freedom of
Americans to buy substances that can make their lives better.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Rubinstein said authorities had warned
Kimball over and over again to stop selling the drug. Instead, the Wesley
Chapel man moved his operations, destroyed his records and began to make
only cash sales.

In the past decade, prosecutors estimate that Kimball has made millions of
dollars selling deprenyl.

Kimball said he will appeal his sentence. Lazzara said he will consider
releasing Kimball on bail while the appeal is pending.