PHARMACIST COMMITS SUICIDE

WEST BURLINGTON (AP) - A Fort Madison pharmacist sentenced to federal
prison for filling forged prescriptions was found dead Thursday, apparently
a suicide.

West Burlington Police Sgt. Frank Newberry said motel staff at AmericInn
found Steve Helling is his room and notified police at 11:42 a.m.

Newberry said a gun and a suicide note were found in the room.

Helling, 47, had been convicted in U.S. District Court in Davenport of
conspiring to distribute a controlled substance and distributing a
controlled substance.

He was sentenced Jan. 18 to 6 1"2 years in prison on each count, with the
sentences to run concurrently, and was fined $12,500.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Longstaff allowed Helling to remain free to help
his ailing 84-year-old father move into a nursing home. The prison term was
scheduled to start sometime this month.

Newberry said Helling apparently checked into the motel alone on Wednesday.

"There was no appearance of any foul play," Newberry said.

Police declined to disclose the contents of the suicide note.

Des Moines County Medical Examiner Eugenio Torres was conducting an autopsy
Thursday evening.

Helling had owned and operated Helling Healthmart and Helling Healthcare in
Fort Madison. He surrendered his pharmacy license after his August
conviction, and the pharmacy closed in October.

During a trial last August, two prosecution witnesses testified they had
sex with the pharmacist in exchange for getting the forged prescriptions
filled. Both women, Leslie Greenslaugh and Laura Newell-Law, Fort Madison,
pleaded guilty to charges of using forged or altered prescriptions.

During his sentencing hearing, Helling admitted that he knowingly filled
some of the forged prescriptions.