MAN PLEADS NO CONTEST IN OXYCONTIN CASE

FORT PIERCE - A man accused of robbing pharmacies to feed an
OxyContin addiction after Dr. Asuncion Luyao was arrested has agreed
to a plea deal to resolve his 4-year-old cases.

Robert Bittle, 39, pleaded no contest Wednesday to trafficking in
OxyContin, robbery and three counts of robbery with a deadly weapon
and was sentenced by Circuit Judge Gary Sweet under the plea
agreement. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but the sentence
was suspended if he successfully completes two years of house arrest
and 10 years of probation.

If he fails any conditions, he will automatically head to prison. He
still faces similar charges in Palm Beach County and those must be
resolved before his sentence will begin.

Speaking on his behalf was Assistant State Attorney Lynn Park, who
said he was "extremely cooperative" in testifying during the trial of
Coleman Fred Sule. Sule, 54, was found guilty in April of
first-degree murder in the death of a Port St. Lucie woman and guilty
of solicitation to commit murder in a plot to frame and kill a witness.

"I'm quite sure we would not have learned about the information in
advance," said Jeff Hamrick, an investigator in the State Attorney's
Office. "There was a good chance the witness could have been killed
before trial."

Bittle was one of two inmates who testified about Sule's jailhouse
plot and he also told authorities about an escape attempt he said
Sule had planned. Park said she did not believe Bittle posed any
danger to the community, especially in light of serious medical
problems he faces.

He suffers from several ailments, including hydrocephalus, also known
as water on the brain, and was legitimately prescribed painkillers in
prison before seeking Luyao's care upon his release. After the Port
St. Lucie physician was arrested in the spring of 2002, police linked
Bittle to eight pharmacy robberies in which he stole roughly 8,000
pills, sometimes carrying a BB gun in his waistband.

Besides using the pills, he also sold them to a dealer, police said.
Luyao was convicted in March of racketeering and oxycodone
trafficking charges and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

Though he initially said he was doing the plea deal because it was in
his best interest, Bittle later told Sweet, "Sir, I was guilty of the crimes."

One of the charges had a three-year minimum mandatory attached to it
and he could have potentially faced more than 100 years in prison on
the charges.

He has spent a little more than four years already in custody. Once
his charges in Palm Beach County are resolved, Bittle will be
admitted into T.R.C. Prison Ministry Inc., a Christian program for
men designed to help inmates transition back into society, his attorney said.

o Robert Bittle, 39, was charged with trafficking in oxycodone,
possession of drug paraphernalia, robbery, grand theft and three
counts of robbery with a deadly weapon. He was accused of robbing
several local pharmacies to feed an OxyContin addiction.

o As part of a plea deal with prosecutors that took into account his
testimony in a murder trial, Bittle was given a 20-year suspended
sentence. He will stay out of prison so long as he completes two
years of house arrest, and 10 years of probation without violating
any conditions.

o Prosecutors also dropped charges of possessing drug paraphernalia
and grand theft as part of the plea bargain.