PANHANDLE DOCTOR GUILTY OF ILLEGAL PRESCRIPTIONS

PANAMA CITY A doctor has been convicted of writing improper prescriptions
for the painkiller oxycodone and other medications, including drugs that
led to two overdose deaths.

A federal court jury deliberated for three hours Wednesday before finding
Dr. Freddie Williams, 54, of Panama City guilty of all 94 charges against
him, including conspiracy, fraud and 57 counts of illegally dispensing drugs.

The latter included drugs blamed for the deaths of Brian Sanders in October
2002 and Bonnie Ramos in December 2000.

The maximum sentence possible is life in prison.

The prosecutor presented evidence that Williams wrote thousands of
prescriptions over three years including nearly 1 million doses of oxycodone.

Oxycodone is the active ingredient in OxyContin, linked to more than 100
deaths across the nation.