DOCTOR IS SENTENCED FOR OXYCONTIN DEATHS

MILTON, Fla., March 22 -- A doctor convicted of manslaughter in the deaths
of four patients who overdosed on the painkiller OxyContin was sentenced
today to nearly 63 years in prison.

The doctor, James Graves, 55, was the first in the United States to be
found guilty of manslaughter or murder in an OxyContin death.

The defense said it would appeal.

Dr. Graves remained defiant today, telling the prosecutor that one day both
of them would have to "stand before God."

Speaking of the prosecutor, Dr. Graves told Judge Kenneth Bell of Circuit
Court, "I pray to God something will change and somehow he will come to
know Christ."

Prosecutors said Dr. Graves ran a "pill mill" that dispensed the painkiller
to addicts and dealers. He was convicted last month of manslaughter,
unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and racketeering. The judge
said state guidelines called for a sentence of as much as 138 years.

Dr. Graves testified that patients had lied to him about their symptoms and
that none of them would have died if they had taken the drugs as prescribed.

In court today, Dr. Graves recited Bible verses and suggested that one
victim, Jeffrey Daniels, might have killed himself.

Mr. Daniels's father, Lester Daniels, grew angry and started to rise.
Courtroom deputies quickly stepped forward and told him to sit down, and
the judge ordered a recess.

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

The Drug Enforcement Administration has attributed 117 deaths in the past
two years to OxyContin and says it may have caused 179 more.