INFORMANT SAYS BARGER INITIATED DRUG DEAL

Former Perry County Attorney Faces Felony Charges

HAZARD Former Perry County Attorney John Mark Barger financed an
alleged drug deal with money from his own daughter's piggy bank, a key
prosecution witness testified yesterday.

Barbara Spencer, who served as a police informant in the case, said on
the second day of testimony in Barger's trial that he gave her $850 in
November 1998 to buy Tylox pills in bulk so they could resell them at
a higher price and split the profits.

Instead, Spencer got confiscated pills and money from the Perry County
sheriff's department and convinced Barger the next day that she had
bought the pills and already sold some.

She said Barger then left the hotel with a Tylox pill and $850. "He
told me he had to get it back into the piggy bank before his wife saw
it was missing," Spencer said.

Barger, who was arrested shortly after leaving Spencer at a Hazard
motel, faces felony charges of trafficking in prescription drugs. He
ultimately resigned and was replaced in a special election.

Authorities contend Barger conceived the drug deal because he needed
money to make a mortgage payment and fight a civil lawsuit against
him.

Barger says he was entrapped by police and that they took advantage of
him while he was struggling with manic depression, a condition his
attorney said caused him to engage in bizarre behavior that included a
shopping spree for Beanie Babies and 100 pairs of tennis shoes.

Perry Commonwealth's Attorney Stephen Tackett spent yesterday
outlining his case against Barger, who was first elected in 1993 and
re-elected in 1998 a week before his arrest. Much of the testimony
centered on Spencer's involvement with Barger and as a police informant.

Tackett attempted to show that the investigation of Barger began with
Spencer's tips to police and not from inside the sheriff's department,
as Barger's attorney contends.

Spencer testified yesterday that she and Barger met while he helped
her with her child-custody case, and that they soon began sharing
drugs and having sex. She said she made visits to his office nearly
every day and that he often drove her to people's homes to buy drugs.

In mid-1998, Spencer approached the sheriff's department and said she
wanted to become an informant. She said she was involved in several
cases not related to Barger before telling authorities about his
alleged drug activities.

She said Barger came up with the idea behind the alleged drug deal and
that the sheriff's department taped all of their meetings at the motel.

Defense attorney Ned Pillersdorf questioned Spencer's motives and
asked her about an affidavit signed by Mary Sue Slone of Perry County,
who claims to be an acquaintance of Spencer. According to the
affidavit, Slone recorded conversations with Spencer about the case.

Slone said in the affidavit that Spencer told her she was given
"1,000 smackeroos and some Tylox" by the Perry County sheriff's
department to "get" Barger. Spencer testified that she received $100
from the sheriff's office for her work as an informant, and no drugs.
In addition, Slone said in the affidavit that Spencer said police
encouraged her to have sex with Barger if it would help complete the
alleged drug deal.

Spencer testified that she didn't know Slone and had never seen her
until a court hearing for Barger last September.

The prosecution is expected to wrap up testimony today and the trial
is expected to continue into next week.