Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 8, 1993 TAG: 9307080044
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Other times, the former USAir mechanical inspector would cause his injured knee to swell by rapping it 30 to 40 times with a large screwdriver.
Darnell's quest for painkillers took him to more doctors than he can remember. And when he could not get legitimate prescriptions for all the Percocet he wanted, Darnell turned to fraud.
He was convicted Wednesday in Roanoke Circuit Court of obtaining property by false pretenses and given a 12-month suspended jail sentence.
Although seven felony charges still are pending, Judge Clifford Weckstein took those cases under advisement and ordered Darnell to seek treatment for a drug problem his attorney called a manifestation of his emotional problems.
"He has used painkillers to deal not with a physical pain - which is nothing - but the greater pain inside of him," said defense attorney Jeff Rudd.
Darnell, who lost his job as a mechanical inspector after pleading guilty earlier this year, was allowed to remain on bond while he is evaluated for a community service program.
When Darnell was fired in May after newspaper publicity about his case, Rudd had charged USAir with being more concerned about negative publicity and its effect on travelers than with addressing an employee's substance-abuse problem.
But Darnell, 38, testified Wednesday that he blames only himself for losing his job and a large part of his life.
"I never could accept the fact that I was a drug addict," he said. "I thought I could control it all along."
Although he made $46,000 a year, Darnell felt he didn't have much to show for it. He lived at home with his parents and burned up his money during spending sprees prompted by the painkillers he took to fight depression.
The drugs made him feel more outgoing - "I felt like I could talk to anybody" - and prompted impulse purchases and sudden trips.
"I would walk through the airport and hop on any plane that was going any which way, just to go," he testified.
But as his habit grew to 15 pills a day, Darnell began to take drastic measures. He twice poured scalding water on his hands and went to emergency rooms for painkillers.
And he skipped from doctor to doctor after repeatedly reinjuring his knee. "I don't think there are any doctors in Roanoke that I could go back to," he testified.
He later photocopied prescriptions, the basis for eight charges of obtaining drugs by fraud. He pleaded guilty to those charges in May, but Weckstein withheld a final ruling.
Darnell said he has been taking prescription drugs since he was 22, for migraine headaches, his knee injury and other ailments.
He said he never took the drugs while on the job at the Roanoke Regional Airport, and that he routinely passed random drug tests. Darnell said he may have a chance to get his job back if he is not convicted of a felony. So far, his only conviction is Wednesday's misdemeanor.
Regional drug prosecutor Alice Ekirch asked that he be sent to prison.
Darnell may have been addicted, she said, "but that doesn't excuse his criminal behavior."
by CNB