BROKEN LAWS AND LIVES

Epilogue

Ralph Grundy, the man who wore a wire when buying an ounce of David
Perkins' cocaine, is due to report to prison in January on a five-year
sentence that he's appealing. He pleaded guilty to being a felon with a
firearm and to selling cocaine.

Scott Sargent, the fiance of one of Perkins' sisters, served six months for
delivering cocaine for Perkins. He now lives in Berea, works at the local
Sonic drive-in, and talks about going to college.

Angela Miller, the driver of the car in Shelby County, is at the Alderson
Federal Prison Camp in Alderson, W.Va., on a 12-month sentence for taking
part in the cocaine ring. She declined repeated interview requests.

Dewayne Harris, Perkins' brother-in-law, is at the Laurel County Detention
Center, awaiting sentencing on Dec. 18 for conspiring to sell cocaine and
OxyContin, and for having firearms during those crimes. His wife, Edna, who
faces sentencing for cocaine and OxyContin charges on the same day, visits
him on Wednesday afternoons, when she speaks to him via telephone, on the
other side of thick glass.

David Valentin pleaded guilty to selling OxyContin and to being a felon
with a firearm. He began his sentence of 12 months and a day on Oct. 20 and
is living at Beckley Federal Correctional Institution in Beaver, W.Va.
Before going into custody, he moved his family members and their pit bull,
Demon, to an undisclosed location, partially out of fear that they could be
hurt by drug dealers from McCreary County.

Steve Gibson, who ran the garage in Pine Knot where Perkins and Valentin
met, is to be sentenced this month on firearm charges and for running a
chop shop. In a late September interview, he explained that he allowed drug
dealing in his garage because he was working as an FBI informant. The FBI
would not confirm or deny his story, but a former sheriff's deputy said he
introduced Gibson to an FBI agent.

After an initial interview, Gibson declined further comment. His lawyer, he
said, told him to be polite but firm on this point.

Jerry Strunk, who brought Valentin to the chop shop, is due to report to
prison on Dec. 17 for selling OxyContin. In the meantime, he and his wife
are helping to take care of the two girls his daughter and Valentin had
together.

David Perkins is in federal prison in Manchester. He has a release date of
Feb. 14, 2010.

Perkins drove to prison on Oct. 30, and didn't say much as he walked
through the parking lot. The razor wire glistened in the sun, and the walls
behind it were tall.

He'd eaten his last meal as a free man at the local Wendy's: a double
hamburger and fries.

On the ride over, Perkins said he had accepted his fate, the same as
thousands before him who'd driven the same road.

Perkins, a son of rural Kentucky, had one final observation. "Boy, they're
building the hell out of these federal prisons," he said. "I guess they've
got to, to keep doing what they're doing."