SUBJECT IN OXYCONTIN SERIES IS ARRESTED

A Tampa man, portrayed in an Orlando Sentinel series last year as a
successful businessman who became an "accidental addict" by taking the
painkiller OxyContin, was arrested Thursday and held without bail.

David S. Rokisky, 36, was arrested by Tampa police on a
probation-violation warrant from Albuquerque, N.M., where he lived and
had worked as a police officer for eight years before moving to
Florida in 1999. He is being held without bail, pending his
extradition.

Court records accused Rokisky of violating the three years' probation
he got on a 2000 forgery charge, but gave no other details. He had
pleaded guilty to the charge in 2001 but wasn't sentenced until last
February.

Rokisky was featured in a five-day Sentinel series in October. He told
his story about how he became hooked on OxyContin, went through a
controversial, rapid-detox treatment and then rebuilt his life with
his wife. But his mother-in-law and Purdue Pharma, the drug's
manufacturer, complained to the newspaper that the story had failed to
include a federal drug conviction and a long history of domestic-abuse
allegations.

On Feb. 22, the Sentinel published results of an internal
investigation detailing flaws with the Rokisky stories. The
investigation found that Rokisky was fired in 1997 as an Albuquerque
police officer; was sentenced to house arrest and probation in 2000 on
a federal drug conspiracy charge; and had pleaded guilty to the
forgery case.

He also was named in 34 police and court reports in New Mexico and
Florida involving domestic violence, child custody and support
disputes with an ex-wife, two girlfriends and in-laws.

Rokisky, who had denied being a drug abuser, failed a court-ordered
drug test before a New Mexico child-custody hearing on Nov. 26. A
transcript shows he had four drugs in his system: methamphetamine,
cocaine, opiates and "oxycodeine," an apparent reference to oxycodone,
the active ingredient in OxyContin.

Rokisky's New Mexico lawyer, Joseph Kennedy, said Thursday that he was
not sure why his client was arrested. "It may have to do with
child-support issues," Kennedy said.

Kennedy and court records said probation officials sought the arrest.
Prosecutors and probation officials in Albuquerque did not return calls.

Dan Tracy of the Sentinel staff contributed to this story.