BOCA SCHOOL LEADER ARRAIGNED ON CHARGE OF TRAFFICKING OXYCONTIN

'My son is not a drug dealer,' says mother of assistant principal at Olympic
Heights High School

She paced outside the U.S. District Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale Monday,
proclaiming her son's innocence.

"My son is not a drug dealer," said Marion McKinney, dressed in a simple
blue dress while her son, Kevin McKinney, assistant principal at Olympic
Heights High School in suburban Boca Raton, was being arraigned inside on a
charge of trying to sell the pain killer OxyContin to a drug dealer. "He
does have back problems," she told reporters. "He is a very kind, loving and
caring son, father and husband."

McKinney, 32, of Deerfield Beach, was arrested Friday after a two-week
investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration into his alleged drug
dealing. The school official was charged with possessing OxyContin with
intent to sell.

His mother, however, said the Oxycontin was for a back injury - and said, "I
don't think he's addicted."

Bottles of the painkiller seized by the DEA reportedly had been prescribed
for both McKinney and his wife.

An employee at Olympic Heights since 1994, McKinney began work there as a
guidance counselor and has served as an assistant principal for the past two
years.

While nearly the entire students body is shocked at the administrator's
arrest, they disagree about his demeanor. Some said he was mild-mannered and
generally friendly, but others reported that he was a strict disciplinarian.

"He was always giving me Saturday detention," said freshman Ryan Wells, who
also said McKinney confiscated his hats as a part of dress code enforcement
and often neglected to return them.

Other students said they resented being punished for minor infractions when
their administrator was doing much worse.

"He said I need counseling and then he's off taking drugs from cancer
patients," said junior Keith Chatterton, who said he found McKinney's
actions hypocritical. "He tried to bust people for selling drugs," said
Chatterton, "I guess he didn't like the competition." Students said the
incident has also raised questions about the kinds of people teaching and
influencing them.

"Normally we take what the employees says as law, but now we'll question it
a little more," said student Liz Steinberg.

The school is already trying to cover up what happened, according to
students, by including in yesterday morning's announcements that nothing
illegal has taken place.

According to court records, the DEA found McKinney through a drug deal he
had allegedly set up with a Boca Raton nurse. Angel Wright, who planned to
sell task force Detective Robert Crispin 500 OxyContin pills for $7,500.

"He was not the nurse's source of supply," Paul Lazarus, McKinney's lawyer,
said on Monday. "He was not in possession of illegal drugs." The lawyer
claimed Wright implicated McKinney only after she found herself in trouble.

Court documents said Wright and Crispin had agreed to meet the evening of
Oct. 23 outside the Eckerd drug store a Hillsboro Boulevard in Coconut
Creek. As Wright circled the drug store in a taxi, McKinney, acting as a
lookout from a nearby Dunkin Donuts, called her on her cell phone because he
suspected Crispin was an undercover officer. The report says he told her:
"Break the deal. There's police. Go back to the safe zone."

Police stopped Wright's taxi driving away from the drug store about 9:20
p.m., Kilmer said. Police found 500 pills and arrested her immediately. She
was charged with trafficking in OxyContin and violating her probation,
Kilmer said.

Wright told police McKinney was her supplier. Police stopped McKinney the
same night, but McKinney told them he was meeting Wright for sex. Police let
McKinney go but got evidence he was involved in the drug deal from a Dunkin
Donuts employee who overhead McKinney on the phone with Wright, Kilmer said.

Federal agents had to obtain a warrant and approval to prosecute McKinney
before arresting him Friday, Kilmer said. Federal agents and school district
police escorted McKinney out of school about 3:30 p.m. Friday and cuffed him
outside. Officials said police found about 200 OxyContin tablets at
McKinney's home Friday.