Man who supplied pain killers to New England Patriots lineman gets 42 months in prison

By John R. Ellement, Globe staff

A federal judge today sentenced a Saugus man to 42 months in federal prison for selling prescription painkillers to New England Patriots lineman Nicholas Kaczur, whom a prosecutor said was "addicted to drugs.''

US District Court Judge William G. Young said from the bench that he would have given Daniel Ekasala more prison time, except for the fact that he concluded Ekasala earnestly tried to convince Kaczur to stop buying and using Oxycontin even as he sold the lineman the pills.

"I am satisfied that you did counsel (Kaczur) to stop his drug use,'' Young told Ekasala.

US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan's office had asked for a 46 month sentence for Ekasala, who was secretly recorded selling Kaczur 300 Oxycontin pills while the player was working as a cooperating witness for the Drug Enforcement Administration in May.

In court, Assistant US Attorney George Vien said prosecutors were looking for less prison time for Ekasala that he faced under federal sentencing rules because the 35-year-old former Statehouse aide had only a minor criminal history.

Vien did not identify Kaczur by name, but called him "CW,'' the acronym for cooperating witness. Yooung also did not identify Kaczur by name.

"I am not going to stand here and say he is a completely evil person,'' Vien said of Ekasala.

But, the prosecutor said, Ekasala was taking advantage of a celebrity with a problem. "The CW was a celebrity with a drug problem,'' Vien said. "He was addicted to drugs.''

Steven Comen, Kaczur's attorney, declined comment.

Ekasala's attorney, Bernard Grossberg, argued in court and in papers that the East Boston native had been lured into making the drug sales because Kaczur plays for the Patriots.

"It was almost a character flaw,'' Grossberg said of the sports mad Ekasala who once ran a fitness center. "He could not resist these overtures.''

Ekasala spoke briefly and accepted responsibility for his actions. A married father of twin girls, Ekasala has been imprisoned since September when he pleaded guilty. After his arrest, Ekasala refused to cooperate with the DEA.

"For the past three months, I have been away from them,'' Ekasala said of his wife and daughters. "That has been the hardest three months of my life.''

He added, "I am not making excuses for what I did. I am accepting full responsibility for what I did.''

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