Published: August 28, 2009 11:20 am      

Wills pleads guilty

BECKLEY — Former Mercer County Sheriff Danny R. Wills, once elected to enforce the law and maintain order, found himself in unfamiliar territory seated at the defense table in a federal court proceeding Thursday.

Wills, 63, was somber and ap-peared at times to have difficulty hearing, as he pleaded guilty to an information alleging he obtained hydrocodone fraudulently.

The plea culminated a federal investigation that became part of public record after Drug Enforcement Administration Diversion Investigator Dominic Grant executed a search warrant May 5 at Wills’ offices in the Mercer County Courthouse.

“Agents located a total of 173 hyrdocodone tablets in a locked cabinet and in Wills’ possession. Wills admitted to the agents that he had been taking up to four to six of the hydrocodone pills daily for about two years,” authorities wrote in a media release issued by U.S. Attorney Charles Miller’s office Thursday. “Wills further stated he had practiced medicine at his sheriff’s office and that he had dispensed hydrocodone to his patients.”

During his tenure as sheriff, Wills’ allegedly admitted he ordered 4,500 pills of the prescription painkiller from General Injections and Vaccines in Bastian, Va.

Wills, who graduated from West Virginia University medical school and practiced medicine in Mercer County for approximately 28 years before being elected sheriff, reported early in the investigation that he ordered medical supplies from GIV to stock a free clinic he ran from the courthouse.

Information seized from Wills’ offices included communication in which GIV questioned the excessive quantities of hydrocodone Wills ordered, Assistant U.S. Attorney Monica Schwartz said Thursday.

“Wills assured GIV he was acquiring the hydrocodone to dispense to patients,” she said, and he allegedly did not advise the company he was taking some of the prescription painkiller himself.

In fact, Wills reported to investigators he had only dispensed a total of 31 of the hydrocodone tablets among three patients.

Though he only pleaded to a single charge Thursday, officials said the prescription fraud did not stop with hydrocodone.

According to the media release, “Wills also admitted to agents that he had written prescriptions for alprazolam, also known as Xanax, a Schedule IV controlled substance, in the names of his wife and son, but that he had actually intended to, and did in fact, obtain and use the Xanax himself.”

At the time the investigation broke into local headlines, Wills’ cousin, spokesman, and ultimately attorney Mark Wills issued a statement on behalf of Danny Wills, saying the allegations had “absolutely nothing to do with his duties as a sheriff.”

On July 16, however, Danny Wills announced the charges were interfering with his abilities to act as one of the county’s leading law enforcement officers. He resigned by letter to the Mercer County Commission, writing that he acted largely to remove the cloud of suspicion that had hung over his department since news of the investigation broke.

“I have tried to be both a sheriff and a physician, running a free clinic out of my sheriff’s office. I made legally indefensible mistakes in how I maintained records in regards to the treatment, plus ordering and use of medications for the free clinic,” Wills wrote.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Johnston explained Thursday there were three components to the drug charge and that the government would need to prove, should the case go to trial: that Wills obtained hydrocodone, that he knew it was a controlled substance, and that he obtained the medication by misrepresentation, fraud or deception.

Wills, however, opted not to face a grand jury review or a trial before his peers.

“I plead guilty,” he said.

Later, as Johnston asked again, “In other words, did you do it?”

Wills answered, “Yes, your honor.”

According the to plea agreement and the federal sentencing guidelines Schwartz reviewed, Wills could face a maximum sentence of four years of incarceration, a fine of $250,000, and one year of supervised release. In addition, Johnston explained he could be required to pay the cost of incarceration, which runs $2,157.88 per month.

The judge also reminded Wills that parole no longer exists in the federal court system.

“If you’re sent to prison, you will not be released on parole,” the judge said.

Wills previously surrendered both his DEA license to dispense medicine as a doctor and the service weapon he carried as Mercer County sheriff. Thursday, Schwartz asked the court to ensure Wills would have no other access to firearms.

Attorney Mark Wills assured the judge that his client had removed all firearms from his residence and was prepared to hand over his passport to ensure his bond remained in place pending sentencing.

With no objection from the government, Johnston set bond at an unsecured $10,000.

The judge also assigned a pre-sentence evaluation of Wills and set his sentencing date for 9 a.m., Dec. 14.

— Contact Tammie Toler at ttoler@ptonline.net.