MCCREARY COUNTY, Ky. — A southeastern Kentucky county, one that boasts natural beauties like the Daniel Boone Forest and the Big South Fork River, has a generation lost to opioids said Judge-Executive Jimmie Greene.
"It's destroyed the whole structure of the family," Greene said. "You've got grandparents and great-grandparents raising kids because their parents can't take care of them."
Greene said the county's ongoing battle makes him frustrated with Dr. David Bruce Coffey's reduced sentence.
"It's just a travesty of justice. And it's very disappointing," Greene said.
From his clinic across state lines in Scott County, Tenn., federal authorities said Coffey wrote prescriptions for more than 5 million pain pills over eight years. The Drug Enforcement Administration said Coffey's clinic was the primary supplier for three drug trafficking organizations in Southeastern Kentucky.
In McCreary County, the county where Greene was elected, Coffey wrote prescriptions for over a million pills authorities. That's enough for each of the 16,701 people in the county to receive over 50 pills.
Through a deal with prosecutors, Coffey pleaded guilty to distributing 60 illicit pain pills. Judge Katherine A. Crytzer sentenced Coffey to 40 months in prison on Oct. 3, 2022.
Attorneys for Coffey in 2023 petitioned the court to release Coffey early, because of his health. Judge Crytzer denied that request.
A second motion to reduce Coffey's sentence was successful. Attorneys argued Coffey qualified for a sentencing reduction. Judge Crytzer agreed on Jan. 23, 2024, to release Coffey on Feb. 1, 2024.
"I would say I'm shocked. But then again, with the way the whole case when I can't really say that I'm shocked," Greene said. "If you've got money, refer back to the OJ Simpson case, that you can get the best of defense."
An attorney for Coffey did not respond to a request for comment. The federal prison inmate database shows Coffey is at a halfway house in Orlando.