DOCTOR SENTENCED IN PILL DEATH OF FOUR

MILTON, Fla. (AP) -- A doctor convicted of manslaughter in the deaths of
four patients who overdosed on the painkiller OxyContin was sentenced
Friday to nearly 63 years in prison.

Dr. James Graves, 55, was the nation's first doctor to be found guilty of
manslaughter or murder in an OxyContin death. Graves remained defiant,
telling the prosecutor that one day both of them would have to "stand
before God."

"I pray to God something will change and somehow he will come to know
Christ," he told Circuit Judge Kenneth Bell. Prosecutors said Graves ran a
"pill mill" that dispensed the powerful painkiller to addicts and dealers.

A jury found Graves guilty last month of manslaughter, unlawful delivery of
a controlled substance and racketeering. The judge said state guidelines
called for a sentence of nearly 39 years to 138 years.

Graves testified that patients lied to him about their symptoms and that no
one would have died if they had taken the drugs as prescribed.

The defense said it will appeal.

In court Friday, Graves recited Bible verses and accused the father of
victim Jeffrey Daniels, 30, of rejecting his son. Graves suggested that
Daniels may have killed himself.

Later, Daniels' father, Lester Daniels, grew angry and started to get up
from his seat because the doctor turned and smiled. Courtroom deputies
quickly stepped forward and told Daniels to sit down, and the judge ordered
a recess.

"As long as he never sees outside prison walls, that's great for me,"
Daniels said after sentencing. "He's slime. He's pure slime."

The Drug Enforcement Administration has blamed OxyContin for 117 deaths in
the past two years and suspects it caused an additional 179.