Disabled man pushes trafficking appeal

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A wheelchair-bound man who says he needs large amounts of prescription drugs to control his pain asked the Florida Supreme Court on Friday to take up his drug trafficking conviction.
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Richard Paey's lawyers contend that prosecutors and two lower courts misapplied the state's drug trafficking law even though there was no evidence that he sold or distributed the painkillers.

Paey, who injured his back in a 1985 car crash and has multiple sclerosis, is serving a 25-year minimum prison sentence. He said only large amounts of strong narcotics quelled his pain.

Florida law classifies the possession of large amounts of controlled substances as trafficking regardless of whether there is evidence they were sold or distributed.

Prosecutors argued Paey, a father of three and a former attorney, forged prescriptions to get so many pills that he had to be selling them. State Attorney Bernie McCabe said Paey could have avoided prison by taking one of several plea deals prosecutors had offered.
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Paey said he got undated prescription forms from a New Jersey doctor.

Florida's 2nd District Court of Appeal sustained his conviction and sentence in December but expressed sympathy for Paey, suggesting he seek clemency from the governor.

If the conviction stands, Paey's attorneys wrote, "then the state may punish a person for being a chronic pain patient."
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