Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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December 17, 2009

Wills sentenced to prison

By Bill Archer

BECKLEY — The federal sentencing guidelines benefited former Mercer County Sheriff Danny Ray Wills by rewarding him for maintaining a spotless record during the first 63 years of his life, but any sentence at all — even the 6-month prison sentence he received — will represent an unexpected mountain to climb.

“I consider you to be a relatively young man with some life ahead of you,” U.S. District Judge Irene C. Berger of the Southern District of West Virginia said following Wills’ sentencing hearing at U.S. District Court in Beckley. She noted that some people in the courtroom might not think that was true, but she also said “supervised release will be of some assistance to you.”

Berger was thorough and deliberate throughout the sentencing hearing. She sentenced Wills to six months in federal penitentiary — a sentence that was actually at the high end of the federal sentencing guidelines that granted Wills a two-level downward departure for acceptance of responsibility, as well as a one level reduction based on Wills’ conviction-free record prior to his Aug. 27, guilty plea. The guideline range was 0-6 months in prison.

But Berger didn’t mince words in pointing out that as an elected official serving as sheriff as well as a physician who worked as a healer, Wills put his public office into a position of liability and “violated the oath, in my opinion, you took as a medical provider.”

Berger noted that the court documents she had read led her to believe that Wills had served the community well. She added that the letters she received from people in the community indicated the same thing. “It surprised people who knew you when they found you were in this position,” Berger said. “There is a need for treatment here for you sir,” Berger said.

Several details about the investigation became much more clear during the sentencing hearing. Berger was frank about the quantity of the prescription pain medication, hydrocodone, in question. She pointed out that Wills purchased 4,500 hydrocodone pills with funds allocated to the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department’s budget, prescribed 31 to at least one other person and had 173 pills in his possession on May 5, when Special Agent Dominic Grant of the DEA executed an administrative inspection warrant. That left 4,296 unaccounted for.

“You tainted both professions when you were in a position of public trust,” Berger said.

Wills addressed the court and said that he took total responsibility for his actions, and said he knew he was wrong. He said both of those things twice. “I want to get on with my life,” he said.

“Mr. Wills has accepted responsibility,” Wills’ counsel, Mark Wills said. “He has cooperated since day one.” Mark Wills said his client surrendered his service revolver and his DEA license at his first meeting with federal prosecutors. “He knows he did wrong and he accepts that,” Mark Wills said. Mark Wills added that when Danny Wills finishes his prison term, he intends to voluntarily enter the Williansburg Clinic at a personal cost of $40,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Monica K. Schwartz confirmed that Danny Wills had cooperated with the DEA, the State Police and the U.S. Postal Service.

In addition to the prison term, Berger sentenced Wills to a one-year term of supervised release, ordered him to pay a $100 special assessment, restitution of $863.54 to the Mercer County Commission, but ordered no fine.

Mark Wills noted that Danny Wills had already paid the restitution and special assessment. “He’s ready to go (to prison) whenever the prison is ready,” Mark Wills said. William Flanigan served as co-counsel with Mark Wills.

Berger found that Wills was not a flight risk, continued his $10,000 bond and allowed Wills to self-report to the institution that will be designated by the federal bureau of prisons. “I wish you the best, sir,” Berger said at the end of the hearing.

Wills pleaded guilty to a one-count federal information charging him with obtaining hydrocodone by “misrepresentation, fraud, forgery and subterfuge.” He served as a trooper with the West Virginia State Police, attended medical school and worked 29 years as a medical doctor in Mercer County, and was first elected to the office of sheriff in November 2004. Wills was re-elected in November of 2008, and resigned his office on June 16.

– Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

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