Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, September 11, 1993                   TAG: 9309110048
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

NO JAIL - BUT NO JOB, EITHER EX-USAIR MECHANIC LOSES FAA LICENSE AFTER DRUG

Dennis W. Darnell, 38, of Roanoke, was fired from his job at USAir earlier this year because of the charges.

At a sentencing hearing Friday, Darnell testified that he has received a job offer from Lockheed to become a mechanic in Saudi Arabia.

He said the offer was conditional on an interview, and that he planned to tell Lockheed officials about the criminal charges against him.

But Roanoke Circuit Judge Clifford Weckstein ordered Darnell to surrender his FAA license, saying he wanted to make a decision "compatible with public safety needs."

Weckstein also reduced four of the charges against Darnell to misdemeanors, giving him suspended jail sentences and ordering him to perform community service.

Of three prosecutors involved in the case - Darnell had a total of eight charges in Roanoke, Roanoke County and Salem - none asked that he receive jail time.

But Roanoke Chief Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Betty Jo Anthony argued that he should be convicted of a felony. "One can only shudder at the thought of what could have happened" when a drug addict works as an airplane mechanic, she said.

"We would not want his record to be unmarked," Anthony said.

Darnell was convicted of three felonies, but Weckstein reserved the right to reduce those charges as well if he successfully completes five years of intensive supervision, counseling and drug testing.

In July, Darnell testified that he was once so addicted to painkillers that he sought pain - burning himself with scalding water from an overheated radiator - to get more pills.

Other times, he said, he would cause his injured knee to swell by rapping it 30 to 40 times with a large screwdriver.

Darnell's quest for painkillers took him to more doctors than he can remember. And when he could not get all the Percocet he wanted, he turned to fraud.

After photocopying prescriptions, Darnell was charged with eight counts of obtaining prescription drugs by fraud or forgery. He pleaded guilty to all the charges in May.

Darnell testified that he is now recovering from his addiction, and attends treatment sessions almost daily.

Even though Darnell has received drug treatment and relapsed three times since 1987, he said facing criminal charges is what finally convinced him that he had to cope with his problem.

"I'm not glad that I committed felonies and I apologize to everyone involved," he testified. "But I'm grateful at how it turned out."

At the time he made his application to Lockheed, Darnell had not been convicted of a felony. His attorney, Jeff Rudd, said Darnell did nothing deceptive and planned all along to inform his potential employer of the drug charges.