COURT WON'T HEAR DISABLED MAN'S APPEAL

TALLAHASSEE -- The Florida Supreme Court will not hear an appeal by a
wheelchair-bound man convicted of drug trafficking for obtaining
large amounts of prescription drugs he said were to control severe pain.

Richard Paey, now serving a 25-year minimum mandatory prison
sentence, had previously said an appellate court misapplied the
state's drug trafficking law when it upheld his conviction in
December, even though there was no evidence he ever sold or
distributed the painkillers.

The Pasco County man has said he was not part of any trafficking
scheme and had the drugs strictly for medical use.

A former lawyer and father of three, the Pasco County man injured his
back in a 1985 car crash and suffers from multiple sclerosis. He said
only large amounts of strong narcotics calmed his pain.