Pubdate: Wed, 12 May 2004
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2004 Southam Inc.
Contact:  http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author: Shannon Kari / CanWest News Service

DOCTOR AT CENTRE OF PAINKILLER RING, COURT TOLD

'Hillbilly Heroin': Courier Testifies He Would Pick Up Prescriptions, Fill 
Them, Then Sell Pills

A jury was told yesterday Dr. Ravi Devgan was a key figure in a painkiller 
trafficking ring and that he used "a pen, a white lab coat and a 
pre-printed piece of white paper" to perform illegal deeds.

Crown attorney Moiz Rahman told an Ontario Superior Court jury in his 
opening address that this was not a "normal" trafficking trial with 
evidence of defendants in "expensive suits," with "briefcases full of money 
and bags full of white powder."

Dr. Devgan is charged with two trafficking-related offences for allegedly 
writing "dozens and dozens of prescriptions" for Percocet and OxyContin 
during a more than two-month period in 2001.

The increasingly popular painkillers are sometimes described as "hillbilly 
heroin," because of their widespread use in rural parts of the United 
States. Last fall, right-wing radio personality Rush Limbaugh admitted to 
an addiction to OxyContin.

According to testimony, an alleged associate of Dr. Devgan would obtain the 
prescriptions and hand them over to a "drug courier" who would use fake 
names to obtain the pills at dozens of different pharmacies, the court heard.

"He would give me the key to a van and say go," said Christopher Bird, the 
admitted courier in the alleged drug ring.

Bird told the court he followed instructions from Sandy Hutchens, a 
paralegal and the alleged associate of Dr. Devgan.

According to Bird, he would receive prescriptions and a planned route of 
pharmacies each morning from Mr. Hutchens. Some of the prescriptions were 
not turned over by Mr. Hutchens, said Bird, because the doctor's 
handwriting was not legible.

Bird testified he would fill as many as 10 prescriptions per day, at least 
five days per week, for 100-pill bottles that retailed for about $20 each.

In exchange, the forklift operator, who was unemployed at the time, said he 
received about $100 per day plus gas money from Mr. Hutchens, after turning 
over the pills.

"Sometimes I would have to go to Dr. Devgan's office and pick them [the 
prescriptions] up," Bird testified.

He said the receptionist at the doctor's midtown office would "have an 
envelope for me." Bird said he met Dr. Devgan briefly on one occasion, 
while he was having tea at his office and they only said "hello" to each other.

The prosecution witness, who previously received a nine-month sentence of 
house arrest, conceded during cross-examination that both he and Mr. 
Hutchens would regularly dip into their stockpile of painkillers.

Bird admitted he took about four to six Percocet tablets per day and that 
he saw Mr. Hutchens take as many as "a dozen pills at a time."

David Porter, the lawyer for Dr. Devgan, questioned Bird's testimony that 
he once delivered an envelope to the doctor's office from Mr. Hutchens that 
he knew was filled with money.

Mr. Porter pointed out that Bird had given a number of conflicting 
statements about this evidence in previous testimony and interviews with 
police.

"I am remembering more as we go along," Bird said.

"That appears to be the case," responded Mr. Porter.

The trial continues today with testimony from Bird's wife, who the court 
heard yesterday allegedly observed Mr. Hutchens sell the painkillers from 
his paralegal office.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart