Man gets prison in prescription drugs scheme

A 58-year-old man who has battled drug addiction most of his life was sentenced Tuesday to nearly six years in prison for his role in a scheme to distribute prescription drugs.

U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro said she initially chose an 87-month prison term for Michael Copping. But after Tuesday's hearing, she imposed a 70-month sentence instead.

Navarro told the defendant she wanted to make one point clear: "What you did was incredibly dangerous."

The judge said Copping had spread the same pain he had endured.

A federal grand jury in Las Vegas indicted Copping in May 2010.

The indictment accused him of conspiring with unidentified people to distribute oxycodone and methadone. It also accused him and his wife, Carol, of conspiring to launder money.

Carol Copping reached a plea agreement with prosecutors and pleaded guilty in November to willful failure to file a tax return. In exchange for her guilty plea, the charge she faced in the indictment was dismissed.

Navarro sentenced Carol Copping last month to the time she had spent in custody after being charged in the case.

Michael Copping's wife and mother both attended his sentencing hearing.

Attorney Michael Cristalli said the defendant, a father of two boys, "almost immediately cooperated with the government" after being charged in the case.

"He is a different individual when he is on prescription medication than when he is off prescription medication," the lawyer told Navarro.

Prosecutors recommended the same sentence that Navarro imposed.

In a lengthy letter to Navarro, filed Monday, Michael Copping detailed his lifelong battle against addiction.

In January 2009, when he and his wife became unemployed, he began selling oxycodone to buy methadone and pay household expenses.

"Today, after 2 years of unusual personal growth, I believe I am once again winning the war within," he wrote.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.