http://www.jambase.com/headsup.asp?storyID=9963Phish\'s Trey Anastasio Indicted On 3 Felony Counts
By Adam Silverman
Free Press Staff Writer
Trey Anastasio
An upstate New York grand jury has indicted Trey Anastasio, the iconic lead singer of former Vermont-based jam band Phish, on seven counts arising from a December traffic stop in Whitehall, including three felony charges of illegally possessing prescription painkillers and driving while impaired.
The Washington County grand jury also filed misdemeanor counts accusing Anastasio of possessing heroin and an anti-anxiety medication that had been prescribed to someone else.
The indictment, signed Friday and made public Tuesday at the request of The Burlington Free Press, charges Anastasio with one count of felony drug possession, two counts of felony driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, three misdemeanor charges of drug possession, and a traffic infraction.
Anastasio, 42, a part-time Richmond resident, faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted and sentenced to the maximum on all counts. All the charges, though, carry minimum sentences that involve no incarceration and permit a range of several years on the upper end.
No court date had been set, but Anastasio could be arraigned as early as Friday, the office of District Attorney Kevin Kortright said Tuesday. The prosecutor did not return messages Monday and Tuesday seeking comment.
Anastasio\'s file at Washington County Court in Fort Edward, N.Y., did not list a defense lawyer, a court clerk said. The musician could not be reached for comment Tuesday night at his Richmond home.
A Whitehall police officer pulled over Anastasio\'s 2004 Audi for failing to keep right as he drove north on U.S. 4 at about 3:30 a.m. Dec. 15, the department has said. He failed a sobriety test, was taken into custody and posed for a memorable booking photo that Rolling Stone magazine dubbed the "most bemused mug shot ever."
Police said Anastasio had three bottles of prescription drugs that belonged to other people.
Anastasio issued a one-line statement apologizing for the incident.
"I feel terrible about what happened last night, and I am deeply sorry for any embarrassment I have caused my friends, family and fans," he said.
During a hearing Jan. 3 in Whitehall, Anastasio pleaded not guilty to charges that included possession of a controlled substance and driving while intoxicated. Afterward, Kortright said he was considering presenting the case to a grand jury because of the quantity of drugs involved.
The grand jury\'s indictment says Anastasio possessed two prescription painkillers, hydrocodone and oxycodone; alprazolam, an anti-anxiety drug sold under the brand name Xanax; and heroin. The amount of hydrocodone, more than half an ounce, elevated the charge to a felony; the other drugs prompted misdemeanor charges, according to the three-page indictment.
Grand jurors also charged Anastasio with felony driving while ability impaired by drugs, and felony driving while intoxicated.
The arrest came more than two years after the breakup of Phish, which formed at the University of Vermont during the early 1980s. The band known early on for shows at Nectar\'s grew into a touring juggernaut that packed tens of thousands of fans into sold-out, festival-like performances.
The four-member group split up in 2004 and held a final, blowout, rain-soaked gig that August in Coventry.
In interviews since then, Anastasio has said the band\'s last few years included lots of drugs, but he said later he had stopped using narcotics and wanted to preach the values of sobriety.
Anastasio told Rolling Stone last week, according to a report on the magazine\'s Web site, that he has gone through rehab and had thanked the officer who arrested him in Whitehall because the incident forced him to face his addiction.
[Published on 2/15/2007]
