PASCO MAN DOING 25 YEARS FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING SEEKS CLEMENCY

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A Pasco County man with multiple sclerosis who
was convicted of drug trafficking for having a large stash of
prescription drugs he said were for pain should receive clemency, his
family said Thursday.

Richard Paey has served four years of a 25-year minimum mandatory
sentence for drug trafficking. The former lawyer and father of three
injured his back in a 1985 car crash and has said he has pain from
that in addition to his multiple sclerosis. He argued in court that
only large amounts of strong narcotics eased that pain.

Prosecutors alleged that using forged prescriptions to obtain so many
pills meant he had to be selling them. Paey said he got undated
prescription forms from a New Jersey doctor because Florida
physicians were reluctant to prescribe drugs in the amounts he needs.

In a hearing before clemency staff, Paey's wife and children said the
four years he's already served are enough.

"I would like to have him home, so we don't have to spend another 21
and a half years without him," his daughter, Katherine Paey said.
"Because he's already missing ... us growing up. And he's missed
birthdays. And, you know, just us being without him is painful."

Richard Paey, who is now wheelchair-bound, appealed his conviction,
but the Florida Supreme Court in March declined to hear the case.

The clemency staff can recommend his case to Gov. Charlie Crist and
the clemency board, which could then take it up and has the power to
order him released early. A final decision isn't likely for months.

"I'm hoping that his name is cleared which may not be done," said his
wife, Linda Paey. "But I would hope at the very least he could spend
his days with his wife - myself and the children."