Pubdate: Mon, 24 Oct 2005
Source: Courier-Journal, The (KY)
Copyright: 2005 The Courier-Journal
Contact:  http://www.courier-journal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/97
Note: Only publishes local LTEs
Author: James Malone

DRUG CHARGES SHOCK KENTUCKY TOWN

Prominent Residents In Madisonville Held

MADISONVILLE, Ky. -- When it came to drugs, lawyer William A. 
"Willie" Nisbet III allegedly worked on both sides of the law, police say.

Nisbet is from a well-to-do family that helped establish two banks in 
the area. And after graduating from the University of Kentucky law 
school, he built a criminal defense practice, often defending people 
charged with crimes involving prescription drugs and methamphetamine.

Now Nisbet, 59, is accused of dealing painkillers and cocaine as part 
of a suspected drug ring. Since July, police have arrested 15 people 
in connection with the case, including several prominent residents.

Those arrested include a plastic surgeon, a pharmacist, a city 
firefighter and Nisbet's daughter, Elizabeth, a pharmacy technician.

Nisbet and 11 others have pleaded not guilty.

Two people have pleaded guilty, and the plastic surgeon accused of 
writing prescriptions that fueled the drug ring is expected to plead 
guilty, his lawyer said.

For many in this city of about 20,000, the arrests come as a shock 
largely because of the number of people charged, their stature in the 
community and the attention it has brought Madisonville.

"There for a while, it was sort of, who was being arrested in the 
morning and who was arrested in the afternoon," said Tom Rogers, 
general manager of radio station WTTL/WYMW.

The Rev. Jim Trimble, rector of St. Mary's Episcopal Church, where 
Nisbet and his daughter regularly attended services, said the 
investigation has been difficult for the community and for the defendants.

"The shock has been one that this kind of coverage is happening in 
such a small town and for us personally," Trimble said. "Our hearts 
go out to Willie, and our prayers are with Willie and his family."

Madisonville Fire Chief Thomas A. Williams has suspended the 
firefighter involved in the case, Matthew Vaughn, who is charged with 
selling cocaine.

Williams said firemen, like everyone else, were surprised by the wave 
of arrests and that it reached into the department.

"If someone had told me something like this could have happened here, 
I would not have believed it," said Williams, who has been fire chief 
since 1999. "It's ruined a lot of lives." He said city officials have 
asked firemen not to discuss Vaughn's case. The case

Police allege that the plastic surgeon, Dr. Sean Maguire, 41, wrote 
prescriptions for others to get narcotics for himself.

And police allege that Maguire, once an instructor at the University 
of Louisville's medical school, also purchased cocaine twice from 
Nisbet and once from Vaughn.

The remaining defendants were accused of playing lesser roles, 
including knowingly filling fraudulent prescriptions from Maguire, 
selling him painkillers without a prescription, tampering with 
evidence in the investigation or disclosing confidential prescription records.

Maguire has agreed to plead guilty to four felony charges and has 
been at a rehabilitation center. He appeared briefly in court last 
week, and he declined to comment.

The next hearings are scheduled for Dec. 5.

During a brief interview in the courtroom last week, Nisbet declined 
to discuss the charges in detail.

"Don't believe everything the police say," he said.

Nisbet's lawyer, William Johnson of Frankfort, said Nisbet is innocent.

Also last week, two other suspects pleaded guilty to charges related 
to filling prescriptions for Maguire. Their plea agreements call for 
them to cooperate with police and prosecutors and to serve no jail time.

One of the men was Phillip Terry II, whose father is a former 
Madisonville mayor.

Last week, Terry pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of 
facilitation to obtaining a controlled substance by fraud. Terry will 
not serve jail time and must cooperate with prosecutors.

In an interview after his plea, Terry said he had picked up two 
prescriptions for Maguire, his neighbor. Terry said he deeply 
regretted what had happened but also felt he had been used.

"Our children played together," Terry said. "He asked me to pick up a 
prescription which also had an antibiotic, and I thought he had an 
infection. The second time, there was an anti-inflammatory drug with 
the pills. After that, I said 'No more.' "

Nisbet's arrest meant the local prosecutor could not handle the case 
because they have worked together and both belong to the bar association.

Gale Cook, who was appointed as special prosecutor from Calloway 
County, said the case is not a typical small-town bust.

"In a drug case, it is normal to have two or three or four 
defendants. When you hit more than a dozen in a small town, it is out 
of the ordinary," Cook said. The break

Investigators say they had suspected for years that prescription 
drugs and cocaine were used at local parties, but they didn't have 
enough proof to make arrests.

The case began to unfold last winter when a "drug pipeline" of 
prescription painkillers was disrupted, police Capt. Marc Boggs said.

Before then, people in Madisonville had been illegally buying the 
drugs in Owensboro, according to police.

To replace the supply of pills, users turned to falsifying 
prescriptions or buying pills on the street, Boggs said.

In mid-May, police received an anonymous tip that Maguire had 
prescribed the painkiller Lortab to a man who gave the pills to 
Maguire, according to a police summary of the investigation obtained 
by The Courier-Journal.

Investigators found other questionable prescriptions written by 
Maguire through an audit of a drug database, including prescriptions 
written to Nisbet and his daughter, the police summary said. Informant?

When police interviewed Nisbet, he denied picking up fraudulent 
prescriptions for Maguire.

He also told investigators "that he was worth so much more to us if 
he was not arrested" because he was working for the regional 
Pennyrile Narcotics Task Force, the summary said.

"If I am arrested, my cover is blown," he told investigators, 
according to the summary.

Task Force Director Cheyenne Albro declined to say whether Nisbet had 
worked as an informant.

Johnson, Nisbet's lawyer, also declined to say whether Nisbet had 
been an informant.

Three employees of Nisbet's law office were charged with evidence tampering.

Police alleged the three were attempting to remove evidence when 
investigators arrived to search Nisbet's home. Court records say 
officers found methamphetamine, empty bulk bottles for 1,200 opiate 
painkillers, marijuana and rolling papers. Doctor had relapse

Maguire has since negotiated a plea agreement admitting to four 
counts of possessing a controlled substance by fraud, and he agreed 
to cooperate in the police investigation, said Hopkins County 
Commonwealth's Attorney David Massamore.

Jim Brantley, Maguire's lawyer, said Maguire has been in a 
drug-rehabilitation clinic in Atlanta. Brantley declined to comment 
on the case or the plea agreement.

When investigators interviewed Maguire, they found he had a history 
of drug abuse, according to police records.

Maguire told them in July that he was a recovering addict and had 
been convicted of fraudulently obtaining prescription opiates in 1999 
in Northern Kentucky.

Maguire was sentenced to probation and rehabilitation. He also 
surrendered his Kentucky medical license in April 1999, but it was 
partially restored in January 2000 with a ban on prescribing 
painkillers, records show.

That October, he had limited privileges to prescribe painkillers 
restored and full privileges restored a year later, but his license 
remained on probation until January of this year.

Maguire told police he remained clean for several years but suffered 
a relapse and turned to prescription painkillers after having dental 
work done last year.

Before Maguire entered rehabilitation this summer, he admitted taking 
40 painkillers and drinking a fifth of liquor a day, records from the 
Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure show.

Boggs, the police captain, said people have asked him what he thought 
of the case.

"People ask me if I was surprised at what we found," Boggs said. "I 
tell them, my reaction was disappointment."
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