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http://www.jambase.com/headsup.asp?storyID=9963
Phish\'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] -
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woah, lets hope he they cut him some slack.
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Quote from: Wolfman;135689
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]
pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff..............................I bet fifty bucks he\'s high on dope right now -
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Quote from: sallyalli;135696
woah, lets hope he they cut him some slack.
i hope they throw the book at him. why enable him to continue doing what he does with the minimum of consequences. do you think that would encourage him to stop? -
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Maybe throw the book at him for the driving charges, but I don\'t think jails should be full of people arrested for possession.
That\'s just the libertarian in me I guess. -
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Quote from: jocelyn;135786
Maybe throw the book at him for the driving charges, but I don\'t think jails should be full of people arrested for possession.
That\'s just the libertarian in me I guess.
i think the book should be kept in the library.
that\'s just the librarian in me i guess.
:rolleyes: -
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I feel bad for Trey...I miss what he would conjure up for all of us!
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"i think the book should be kept in the library.
that\'s just the librarian in me i guess."
Not sure if you\'re just being witty or if you are saying you think he should get off free and clear. If it\'s the latter... well... I dunno... he was endangering lives by driving intoxicated.... -
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Quote from: jocelyn;135793
"i think the book should be kept in the library.
that\'s just the librarian in me i guess."
Not sure if you\'re just being witty or if you are saying you think he should get off free and clear. If it\'s the latter... well... I dunno... he was endangering lives by driving intoxicated....
i was being stupid, hence the :rolleyes:. trey should rot in jail. -
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Quote from: jocelyn;135786
Maybe throw the book at him for the driving charges, but I don\'t think jails should be full of people arrested for possession.
That\'s just the libertarian in me I guess.
The bleeding heart liberal in me totally agrees with you
I am against almost any war (note the "almost", I said that on purpose!)... but I am especially against 1) Wars waged against a domestic civilian population for means of control and 2) Wars that were started without ever having the intention of being ended.
The so-called "War on Drugs" *coughWar-On-Lower-Class-and-Minoritiescough* fits that bill like OJs glove before he heat-shrunk it.
So-called "War on Terror" is all that and much more..Quote from: davepeck;135794i was being stupid, hence the :rolleyes:. trey should rot in jail.
Whats the logic here Dave? He should rot in jail for having a drug problem?
Man becomes dependent on a substance due to personal and environmental reasons, and therefore should be robbed of his life and made to sit in a jail cell for several years...
Perhaps I\'m totally missing your point. Or maybe up here in Northampton I\'m just surrounded by so many open minded compassionate people that I forgot some people in this country still believe people deserve to go to jail for drug possession. :shrug:
Driving intoxicated is a whole different ballpark though, because that actually endagers other people.
But I still say give him a break.
Let he who is free of sin cast the first stone. -
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"Driving intoxicated is a whole different ballpark though, because that actually endagers other people.
But I still say give him a break."
Why? Because of who he is? Would that matter if he hit a car with kids in it, and one of them died? -
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It doesn\'t matter who he is.
I just believe the right of one human to indict another human is questionable. On top of that, everybody deserves a second chance.
People caught in the act of driving intoxicated or causing harm to others in any way by virtue of a substance abuse problem should be mandated some kind of rehabilitation program. Putting them behind bars for their weakness is cruel and unnescessary.
I would venture to guess that many of the long-distance partying travelers on this board have committed similar crimes and would like to have a second chance. -
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Dave has thought Trey should rot in jail since the announcement of Phish breaking up. No big surprise there.
However as to this case, he should have to do some type of community service for lost wooks at the least.
He can do more good for himself and others outside of a jail cell than in one. Jail is for criminals not addicts. -
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regardless of the issue with possession, he should deal with the consequences that every other person convicted of a dwi has to endure...that doesn\'t necessarily mean going to jail. there is no reason why he should be let off of the hook for potentially endangering the lives of other people on the road. i know plenty of people who have had dwi\'s as well as possesion charges and it sucked for them too. trey should be no exception. if you\'re dumb enough to drive when you\'re that **** up and get caught (especially with drugs on you), maybe you need to take a reality check.
<<<< just $.02 from someone who was been hit by a drunk driver and chased them into another county only to corner them and find that they had a bunch of dope on them. oh and then they said i hit them. riiight. -
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Quote from: bdfreetuna;135795
Or maybe up here in Northampton I\'m just surrounded by so many open minded compassionate people
As someone who lived in Amherst for 4 years during school, I have to strongly disagree that people are open-minded in Northampton. Many of the militant socialists will curse/protest/demonize to no end anyone who speaks a lick of conservative (or even centrist) philosophy. If you do not agree with them, you are generally dog meat.
With that being said, I still have much affection for my days in the Pioneer Valley. So much good food, music, etc. concentrated in an outpost (actually two) of rural Massachusetts.
As a Libertarian in principle, I\'d have to say I hope Ernest doesn\'t spend time in the slammer for the drug possession. Driving to endanger does encroach on the Liberty of others, so a conviction there is fair game. -