Pubdate: Wed, 20 Feb 2002
Source: Sun News (SC)
Copyright: 2002 Sun Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://web.thesunnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/987
Author: Elaine Gaston, The Sun News
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?186 (Oxycontin)

MAN GETS 57 MONTHS FOR SELLING PAIN PILLS

A Lancaster man was sentenced in federal court last week for conspiring to 
distribute oxycodone after an investigation involving the Comprehensive 
Care & Pain Management Center in Myrtle Beach.

Curtis Albert Cooper, 64 of Lancaster, was sentenced Friday in federal 
court in Florence for conspiracy to distribute between 1,400 and 2,000 
grams of oxycodone, a Schedule II controlled substance, between 1980 and 
2001, according to a news release.

Cooper was sentenced by Judge C. Weston Houck to 57 months imprisonment, 
followed by three years supervised release, during which he will be treated 
and tested for narcotics.

Testimony at the hearing indicated an investigation initiated by the Drug 
Enforcement Administration revealed a large number of Lancaster County 
residents were going to Comprehensive Care & Pain Management Centers, a 
Myrtle Beach pain clinic, to get pain pills. A large portion of the pills 
were subsequently being resold on the streets of Lancaster, the release 
said. Search warrants and interviews identified more than 100 Lancaster 
County area residents who were receiving controlled substances from the 
clinic. Undercover operations conducted in and around Lancaster County led 
investigators to Cooper, who was identified as a large-scale supplier of 
pills such as OxyContin, Tylox, Hydrocodone, Valium, Xanax and Soma.

An undercover purchase from Cooper led to the execution of a search warrant 
at his residence. Agents seized numerous pill bottles with names besides 
Cooper, pills, a Lincoln Continental and more than $86,000. The U.S. 
Attorney's office in Florence handled the case, which was investigated by 
DEA agents and Lancaster County Sheriff's Office.
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