MOUNT VERNON — A Mount Vernon couple pleaded guilty Friday to selling prescription pain pills to a confidential informant.
Bryan and Betty Tice admitted in court to selling 15 Oxycontin pills to Mindi A. Myers, Mount Vernon, identified in court records as “Confidential Informant 14.” According to police records, police paid Myers $75 cash to wear a wire and carry out the drug transaction.
Court records show the 38-year-old Myers was recruited by police after she was caught allegedly attempting to sell silver bars her 20-year-old son stole in a robbery in December 2006. In the robbery, over $7,000 worth of gold, silver and electronics were stolen from a Mishey Road residence. Out of jail on a personal recognizance bond and facing multiple felony charges, Myers’ son subsequently fled the area and is wanted on a nationwide warrant.
The News has received information through an acquaintance of Myers that both Mindi and her son, Jason, are residing with a relative in Sevierville, Tenn.
In an interview with the News, Bryan Tice said that Mindi Myers, a friend of the Tices, had been borrowing prescription pills from them for several months. Because she never replaced any of the borrowed pills, both Tices told the News, Myers eventually offered to pay the Tices money for their drugs.
Police records show that on April 5, in a vehicle in the parking lot of the Mount Vernon Shopping Plaza, Myers paid the Tices $400 for 15 pills. The records also show that Myers wore a wire during the transaction.
Myers was sentenced to four years in prison in 1990 for charges of grand theft and receiving stolen property. She served three months, then was released and placed on probation for five years.
Bryan and Betty Tice are scheduled for sentencing on Feb. 1; each face a possible six to 18 months in prison and fines totaling $5,000. Both remain free on bond. Neither Betty nor Bryan Tice has ever been convicted of a felony.
