Delaware pharmacist faces drug sentencing

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - December 20, 2012 (WPVI) -- A former Claymont pharmacist convicted of illegally distributing the painkiller Oxycodone faces sentencing by a federal judge.

Bruce Costa was to appear at a sentencing hearing Thursday in U.S. District Court in Wilmington.

Federal guidelines call for Costa to be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, but his lawyers are asking for leniency because of the impact a long sentence could have on his family, and because he himself became addicted to prescription drugs after a car accident.

Costa and his wife have agreed to forfeit almost $2.5 million to the government, including an estimated $810,000 from illegal drug sales and their interests in Renaissance Family Pharmacy. Prosecutors say investigators found $1.2 million stashed at Costa's mother's house in Pennsylvania and another $164,000 at his own home.

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