Patriots' Kaczur arrested for illegal possession of painkillers

[AdamJT13]

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/stories/2008/06/03/kaczur_0604.html

The Boston Globe
Published on: 06/03/08

Starting New England Patriots offensive lineman Nicholas Kaczur was arrested in April on a charge of illegal possession of prescription painkillers and then secretly cooperated with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration in a sting operation that resulted in the indictment of his alleged drug supplier, according to a lawyer and two people briefed on the investigation.

Kaczur — a 28-year-old, 315-pound offensive tackle — wore a hidden recording device during three drug transactions in May at gas stations in Foxborough and North Attleborough and a supermarket parking lot in Sharon, according to the lawyer, the two officials, and federal court documents. At each of the three transactions, Kaczur paid $3,900 in cash to buy 100 OxyContin pills, a potent prescription pain reliever.

Federal agents arrested the alleged dealer, Daniel Ekasala, moments after the third transaction with Kaczur, said Ekasala's lawyer. He was indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday on three counts of possession of oxycodone (the main ingredient in the prescription drug OxyContin) with intent to distribute. He is due to be arraigned Wednesday in federal court.

The sting operation is detailed in a six-page affidavit filed by a DEA special agent in US District Court in Boston. That document makes constant reference to an unnamed cooperating witness, a buyer who was reaching out to the alleged dealer by text message, then meeting with the dealer to exchange cash for drugs.

The full story can be found at this link -- http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/stories/2008/06/03/kaczur_0604.html

It's not posted on the Globe's Web site yet (2 a.m. Eastern).

 

[nashvillepatsfan]

very surprised. not that he had pain killers, but that he was arrested, and the entire media world wasnt calling for b.b.'s suspension
pretty amazing they kept it a secret, but they would have to in order to pull off the sting.

 

[Patjew]

WTF??? He was in a sting operation?

I think i just saw this movie. It was called "We Own The Night". And it sucked.

Bizarre...

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

I don't the signing of Oliver Ross was a coincidence.

 

[unoriginal]

So apparently Kaczur turned state's evidence to escape a misdemeanor drug possession charge and a moving violation.

Kaczur was driving 76 miles an hour in a 65-mile-per-hour zone on the New York State Thruway in Whitestown when police pulled him over and discovered a "small amount of controlled substance for which he did not have a prescription," according to New York State Police Sergeant Kern Swoboda. The trooper identified the substance as oxycodone and said Kaczur was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree, which is a misdemeanor.

...

Kaczur has told authorities that he had been buying oxycodone from Ekasala every few days in batches of a hundred since November 2007, the middle of the Patriots season, according to Grossberg, who said that information is contained in DEA reports. That time frame would include the Patriots' playoff run and their 2008 Super Bowl appearance.


But, Grossberg accused Kaczur of "puffery," insisting he was inflating the amount of drugs he bought to make it seem as if he had more to offer authorities and get himself out of any legal trouble. Grossberg described his client as a young, middle-class father of twins.

I'm sure some intrepid sports reporters will get to the bottom of this case and give us all the pertinent information as it transpires.

Oh wait, that'll be the regular reporters. The sports reporters will yak yak yak yak yak yak about what they think about this case.

 

[Mike the Brit]

Uh-oh, bad news. Kaczur had a (rumoured) reputation as a pot-head at one time. But Oxycodin is basically an opiate (from Wikipedia):

Oxycodone was first synthesized in a German laboratory in 1916, a few years after the German pharmaceutical company Bayer had stopped the mass production of heroin due to addiction and abuse by both patients and physicians. It was hoped that a thebaine-derived drug would retain the analgesic effects of morphine and heroin with less of the euphoric effect which led to addiction and over use. To some extent this was achieved, as oxycodone does not "hit" the central nervous system with the same immediate punch as heroin or morphine and it does not last as long. The subjective experience of a "high" was still reported for oxycodone, however, and it made its way into medical usage in small increments in most Western countries until the introduction of high strength preparations with inert (inactive) binders radically boosted oxycodone use.


The introduction of these higher strength preparations in 1995 resulted in increasing patterns of abuse. Unlike Percocet, whose potential for abuse is somewhat limited by the presence of paracetamol, OxyContin and other extended release preparations, contains only oxycodone and inert filler. Abusers simply crush the tablets, then either ingest the resulting powder orally, intranasally, intramuscular, or subcutaneous injection (by dissolving the powder), or rectally to achieve rapid absorption into the bloodstream. The tablets' coatings are removed, and they are crushed or chopped up by abusers to disable the time-release properties of the tablet, which allows the entire dose to "hit" the abuser at once. This rapid onset of the entire dose, or "hit", is referred to as "the rush" by drug abusers. This "rush" delivers a feeling of, what is described by abusers as, a "blissful apathy" and state of well-being, accompanied by a powerful and alluring euphoria. Injection of oxycodone directly into the bloodstream produces the most intense effects. Injection of OxyContin is also particularly dangerous since it contains binders which enable the time release of the drug. The vast majority of OxyContin-related deaths are attributed to ingesting substantial quantities of oxycodone in combination with another depressant of the central nervous system such as alcohol or benzodiazepines.

 

[DarrylS]

The Globe painted this as another Patriots scandal, while all it is is a player who has addiction issues.. it is what it is.. hopefully he recovers and can be an asset to this team..

 

[reject]

Cant wait to see how jealous NFL fan idiots spin this one. No, I'm not defending Kaczur or sweeping what he did under the rug, it's just that these inbred morons will probably say we need more asterisks on our Super Bowl titles because of this.

 

[richpats]

He needs painkillers for all the butt-kickings he took last year.

 

[Pats726]

I have heard a bit about things regarding him before..I think last year there were a few threads and SOME I believe wanted him traded and gone..NOT a large surprise....

 

[unoriginal]

He needs painkillers for all the butt-kickings he took last year.

Our offensive lineman sure do suck. They only ever seem to give up sacks, never make them.

 

[BSR]

If this were Brett Favre the article about how he was a hero.

 

[Bertil]

He probably does have a Super Bowl hangover....

 

[Julius]

Wow the RT position for the Pats is cursed. Oxycotin is a powerful Opiate if Kaczur was needing pain pills for pain their are other ones available that are not so likely to mess you up. I suspect that these pills were more for getting high than playing through pain. The Pats need to trade him to the Rats he will fit right in.

 

[pats1]

Ted Johnson did at one time have a painkiller addiction, around the same time when his wife accused him of assault, the charges were dropped, and they divorced. Also around the time when he accused Belichick of contributing to his demise.

 

[richpats]

Our offensive lineman sure do suck. They only ever seem to give up sacks, never make them.

LOL if you didn't know that Kaczur was the weak link of the Pats' O-line before SB42 then you didn't watch the Pats in 2007.

 

[castlelong1]

Cant wait to see how jealous NFL fan idiots spin this one. No, I'm not defending Kaczur or sweeping what he did under the rug, it's just that these inbred morons will probably say we need more asterisks on our Super Bowl titles because of this.

I can already see it. Goodell ignores it while dropping the hammer on the Bills and everyone ignore the June 1st bit and claim it shows more favoritism towards the Patriots.

 

[Bigdogx]

These pills are bad news, i have a few former friends i knew that got hooked on them and moved to other worse drugs "heroin" when they got to expensive for them to buy.

 

[DarrylS]

Our offensive lineman sure do suck. They only ever seem to give up sacks, never make them.

That is why we had three O-line probowlers last year..

 

[NE39]

I wonder when he shared his arrest with the team. If he cooperated with the authorities in hopes of avoiding the arrest becoming public knowledge, he could face possible consequences. A player is supposed to inform the team and NFL of an arrest immediately, and failure to do so subjects them to discipline. That is part of what got Pacman Jones in trouble on one of his many issues.