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U.S. NEWSSaturday 24 October 2015

Feds confiscate lethal-injection drugs imported by 2 states

A fence surrounds the state prison in Florence, Ariz. Arizona has joined a number of states that Arizona paid nearly $27,000 Tennessee brought back
have tried to illegally import a lethal injection drug that’s not approved in the U.S., according to for the sodium thiopental, the electric chair and Utah
documents obtained by The Associated Press. which federal agents inter- the firing squad.
cepted when it arrived at Other states also have
(AP Photo/File) the Phoenix airport in July, looked into buying drugs
according to documents internationally.
ASTRID GALVAN pounds the nation’s severe stop the heart. The anes- obtained by The Associ- Ohio, which halted execu-
ated Press. tions until at least 2017 be-
JUSTIN PRITCHARD shortage of execution thetic currently has no le- Texas and FDA authorities cause of drug shortage,
gave fewer details about told the FDA earlier this
Associated Press drugs. gal uses in the U.S. the confiscation there. month it believes it can ob-
Texas is the nation’s busiest tain a drug overseas with-
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Fed- The Food and Drug Admin- “Courts have concluded death penalty state, with out violating any laws.
about 250 death row in- Nebraska ran afoul of
eral authorities have con- istration said Friday that it that sodium thiopental for mates and 530 executions the FDA in May when the
carried out over the past agency said it could not
fiscated shipments of a impounded orders of so- the injection in humans is four decades. It has not legally import sodium thio-
used sodium thiopental in pental and a second le-
lethal-injection chemical dium thiopental, an anes- an unapproved drug and recent years. thal-injection chemical it
The national shortage has bought for $54,400 from
that Arizona and Texas tried thetic that has been used may not be imported into become more acute over Harris Pharma, a distributor
the past few years, ever in India. That shipment ap-
to bring in from abroad, in past executions in com- the country,” FDA spokes- since European companies parently never made it to
started refusing to sell cer- the United States.
saying such imports are il- bination with drugs that man Jeff Ventura said in a tain drugs to the U.S. Death “Just wanted to let you
penalty states have been know have a few states
legal — a move that com- paralyze the muscles and statement. scrambling to secure sup- who have already ordered
plies, a search that in at sodium thiopental. Would
least one case led to India Nebraska be interested as I
and a forlorn-looking busi- will have a few thousand vi-
ness in a residential neigh- als extra,” Chris Harris, CEO
borhood. States have had of Harris Pharma, wrote in
to change drug combina- April to Nebraska officials,
tions or put executions on who released the corre-
hold while they look for spondence under a public
other options. As backups, records request.

Trail hiker pleads guilty to wire fraud in embezzling case

Associated Press in a scheme the FBI said time. He said he under- and wearing an orange- the questions lingering for
CINCINNATI (AP) — A Ken- began 17 years ago. stood. FBI agents arrested and-white jail jumpsuit. the family of his late first
tucky accountant who U.S. District Judge Susan J. Hammes in May at an inn He told Dlott during ques- wife, though her sister,
spent much of six years as Dlott accepted the plea in Damascus, Virginia, dur- tioning that he was taking Jane Ryan, of Springfield,
a fugitive hiking the Appa- after asking him a series ing the annual Trail Days medication for depression. Illinois, said they are skep-
lachian Trail pleaded guilty of questions, including festival. The inn’s opera- He smiled and mouthed tical of any explanations
Friday to a wire fraud count whether he was pleading tor and fellow hikers say greetings to a friend in the from Hammes. “He’s such
and agreed to pay back guilty because he is, “in he was known by the trail courtroom. She refused a liar about everything,”
money embezzled in an fact, guilty.” “Yes, I am,” name Bismarck, an affable, to talk with a reporter. she said Friday by tele-
$8.7 million case. Hammes, 53, replied. bushy-bearded hiker who Hammes also smiled at Ron phone. “Whatever he says
Federal authorities will drop Dlott said she would sen- often appeared in photos Vissing, a Lexington man is meaningless.” Ryan is one
74 other counts of wire tence him after reviewing and online posts with other who said he used to play of four siblings of Joy John-
fraud and money laun- results of a presentencing hikers along the more than racquetball with him. Viss- son, of Waverly, Illinois. Her
dering against James T. investigation that could 2,000-mile trail stretching ing said he wanted to learn sister met Hammes when
Hammes under an agree- take several months. She from Georgia to Maine. more about what hap- both attended college in
ment that includes explain- warned him that she could Hammes’ hair was long, pened. “We all assumed Springfield, and they were
ing what happened to the still impose the maximum but his beard was trimmed he had left the country,” married with a daughter
millions diverted from his sentence of 20 years, even neatly Friday when he was Vissing said of Hammes’ when Joy died at 40 in 2003
employer, a Cincinnati- though his deal with the led into the courtroom, hiker life. after a fire in their Lexington
based Pepsi-Cola bottler, government called for less hands and legs shackled Why he didn’t is among home.