MAN FACING DRUG CHARGES SAYS HE IS HELPING ADDICTS

LEESBURG -- A man arrested on drug charges said Wednesday that he
was helping addicts beat their need for prescription medications.

Daniel Civic, 50, of Leesburg was booked in the Lake County Jail on
Tuesday night on several charges, including drug trafficking, drug
possession with intent to distribute and sale of a controlled
substance. He remained in jail Wednesday with bail set at $67,500.

Civic said he helps "hundreds" of drug addicts in his role as
minister of Voice of Hope Ministries, which he founded in New York
years ago. A few live in one of the two homes in Leesburg and Eustis
that he "donated" to the ministry, Civic said.

He said he ministers to addicts and takes them to their own doctors
to help wean them off drugs. If the addicts don't have a doctor, he
will take them to "friends who are doctors," Civic said.

"I do not prescribe drugs. I do not sell drugs. I do not buy drugs," he said.

To ensure no one steals the drugs, Civic said he hides the medication
in the homes and then doles out the drugs to the addicts.

Investigators tell a different story, describing Civic as a drug
dealer who sells prescription drugs for money and favors.

Detectives began to investigate Civic six months ago after several
people complained about him selling prescription drugs, according to
the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Several confidential informants told deputies Civic was running a
methadone clinic out of his home on County Road 452, the Sheriff's Office said.

Civic is not a licensed doctor, Sgt. Christie Mysinger said.

"He does not have a license to legally possess prescription narcotics
. . . that are not prescribed to him by a doctor," Mysinger said.

On Oct. 25, a confidential informant used $100 in marked bills to buy
10 Dilaudid pills from Civic, according to an arrest report. Dilaudid
is a narcotic.

On Tuesday, investigators saw two people go to Civic's home and
conduct "what appeared to be a drug transaction," according to the
Sheriff's Office.

After they left, Eustis police stopped the pair in a Saturn as they
drove on C.R. 452. Two children also were in the vehicle.

Jason Burnham, 35, of Eustis was in the driver's seat.

This week, Burnham settled a lawsuit against Mount Dora for about
$50,000, Mayor James Yatsuk said. In 2004, he accused a Mount Dora
police officer of dumping the cremated remains of his infant daughter
after he was illegally stopped and searched while walking home after
Hurricane Charley.

On Tuesday, Burnham told Eustis officers that he and Nichol Imhoff,
who was in the passenger seat, picked up the car from Civic's house.
Police searched the car and found white powder in a bag under the front seat.

Burnham and Imhoff both said the powder was sugar, police said.
Officials are sending it to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement
lab to be tested.

Imhoff also said they borrowed $400 from Civic and that Burnham got
some Xanax, an anti-anxiety medication, from Civic, police said. She
said Burnham's prescription had been stolen and his doctor refused to
write a new one.

Burnham told the officer that he paid $6 a pill. He was arrested and
charged with possession of Xanax without a prescription. He bonded
out late Tuesday. Imhoff was not charged.

Later Tuesday, authorities searched Civic's home on C.R. 452 and
found 147 OxyContin pills and 24 Xanax pills that have a street value
of more than $10,000, according to the Sheriff's Office. OxyContin is
a painkiller.

They also found 15 Metronidazole pills and six Amoxicillin pills and
$1,710. Those two drugs are antibiotics.

"They should not be surprised to find medication there," Civic said.

Martin E. Comas of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report.