TAMPA, Fla.- The men who reported being abused as boys by a retired Boston Red Sox clubhouse manager told investigators they were also used by some players as drug couriers, records released Friday said. In more than 80-pages of interviews from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the victims gave agents lists of dozens of players and team officials who might have known Donald James Fitzpatrick was molesting boys as young as 4-years-old. The lists include the names of some of the Red Sox biggest stars during the past two decades, according to the documents obtained by The Associated Press. [continues 720 words]
Fla. County Disease Rate 6 Times Average BARTOW, Fla. - For more than six decades, John's Restaurant was a popular place to eat in the rural town of Bartow, drawing generations of steady customers with its homestyle food and friendly atmosphere. Then in February, a 29-year-old woman died of liver failure after eating chicken wings and cheese fries from John's. Health officials, already alarmed at a major outbreak of hepatitis A in Polk County, soon linked the death to an infected cook at John's. Five other people who were infected were found to have eaten at the restaurant. [continues 455 words]
BARTOW, Fla. -- For more than six decades, John's Restaurant was a popular place to eat in this rural town, drawing generations of steady customers with its home-style food and friendly atmosphere. Then in February, Paquita Campbell, 29, died of liver failure after eating chicken wings and cheese fries from John's Restaurant. Health officials, already alarmed at a major outbreak of hepatitis A in Polk County, soon linked the death to an infected cook at John's. Five others who were infected were found to have eaten at the restaurant. [continues 693 words]
TAMPA, Fla. - Darryl Strawberry was sentenced to 18 months in prison Monday for violating his probation on a 1999 conviction on drug and solicitation of prostitution charges. Dressed in an orange jail-issued uniform, the 40-year-old former major league slugger said his "life is going in the right direction." He had been held at the Hillsborough County Jail since March awaiting sentencing. "I would just like to get this behind me. I would like to do my 18 months and move on," Strawberry said. "I don't want to have this over my head." [continues 489 words]
Matthew Kaminer was one week away from freshman year finals at the University of Florida when he had a few drinks, then popped an innocent-looking pill handed to him by a friend. The next day, he was dead. Kaminer was among the first wave of deaths linked to the potent painkiller OxyContin. Today, two other young men go before a judge on manslaughter charges in his death. The synthetic morphine, a savior to those in intense pain, has become a killer when abused. More than 120 people nationwide have overdosed on the prescription drug. [continues 663 words]
TAMPA, Fla. -- Matthew Kaminer was one week away from freshman year finals at the University of Florida when he had a few drinks, then popped an innocent-looking pill handed to him by a friend. The next day, he was dead. Kaminer was among the first wave of deaths linked to the potent painkiller OxyContin. Today, two young men go before a judge on manslaughter charges in his death. The synthetic morphine, a savior to those in intense pain, has become a killer when abused. More than 120 people nationwide have overdosed on the prescription drug. [continues 584 words]
Tampa, Fla -- Darryl Strawberry said Friday he has been told that his "brain is broken" from years of cocaine abuse, but he vowed to continue fighting the drug problem for which prosecutors want to send him to prison. "My addiction has been very strong and very powerful," Strawberry said in a brief statement to Hillsborough Circuit Court Judge Florence Foster. "I have never quit trying to fight the demons and I won't quit trying to fight the demons. I do care about recovering. I don't know why I go out and use drugs. I don't know what happens to me." [continues 346 words]
TAMPA - Federal Agents Say They Captured 85 Percent of Their List of Fugitives. ``These Are Not Your Low-Level Street Dealers,'' The U.S. Attorney Says Four months of rounding up the most elusive drug-trafficking suspects netted 1,015 arrests and $1 million in seized property, federal authorities said Friday. Among those captured were a drug trafficker who is suspected in the deaths of two government informants; an alleged marijuana supplier accused of setting up an elaborate indoor farm; and a man charged with using drug money to provide automatic weapons to Colombian dealers. [continues 516 words]
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- A four-month effort to round up the most elusive indicted drug traffickers netted 1,015 arrests and $1 million in seized property, federal authorities said Friday. Among those who had evaded capture despite being indicted were a drug trafficker who is suspected in the deaths of two government informants; an alleged marijuana supplier accused of setting up an elaborate indoor farm and a man charged with using drug money to provide automatic weapons to Colombian dealers. "These are not your low-level street dealers," said U.S. Attorney Donna Bucella. "These are the distributors" [continues 492 words]
