-from eveningsun.com-

By Shari Sanger

One man told a statewide investigating grand jury he began to forge checks so he could maintain his OxyContin addiction.

Another said he began to deliver pills to other users in exchange for free pills.

The two men, now in their 20s, are among several witnesses who testified to a grand jury about how as teenagers they began committing crimes to pay for prescription pills they obtained from Joyce and Randy Knox - the couple law enforcement officials say operated a prescription-drug ring in Adams County.

According to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, the witnesses - who ranged in age from 13 to 19 when they allegedly bought the drugs from the Knoxes - testified that they paid the Knoxes for the controlled substances in various ways, including gift cards at retail stores, doing chores such as mowing the lawn, trading tools, DVD players and game machines, forging checks and committing robberies.

Attorney General Tom Corbett said he suspects some of the gift cards that were given to the Knoxes in exchange for the drugs were stolen from stores.

“This investigation is an illustration that kids are going to do what they have to, and if there is an addiction at that early age, they’re going to do what they have to to obtain the drugs with no regards to consequences,” Adams County District Attorney Shawn Wagner said.

The Knoxes, who lived at 361-B Shippensburg Road in Biglerville, were identified as sources in the county for the prescription painkillers OxyContin, Percocet, Xanax and hydrocodone, as well as marijuana, authorities said.

Their arrests, as well as the arrests of five others - all of whom knew the Knoxes and were obtaining and distributing prescription drugs - were announced at a press conference Monday.

How exactly the drugs were obtained is part of a continuing investigation, authorities said.

The attorney general said there is no way to know just how many kids were allegedly victimized by the prescription drug ring.

But Wagner said the young age of the known victims shows the problem locally with prescription-drug abuse and related crimes needs to be taken seriously.

“Unfortunately, in our juvenile system, now we’re seeing that juveniles are possessing these prescription drugs. Sometimes they’re easier to get than cocaine or marijuana,” Wagner said.

Many of those who offered testimony against the former Biglerville couple said they either lived in or knew someone else who lived in apartments formerly owned by the Knoxes.

* One man, now 22, testified he quit high school when he was 15 or 16 and moved in with someone who rented an apartment from Joyce and Randy Knox, according to court documents.

He said he was introduced to Joyce Knox and began buying small amounts of marijuana from her. Within six months, he said, he began buying Vicodin and Xanax, and when he was 17, he started buying OxyContin from her.

He testified that when he first started using OxyContin, he would buy three to four 40-milligram pills per week. Within two years, his habit progressed to one or two 80-milligram pills per day.

He began to forge checks so he could maintain his addiction.

* Another man, now 23, told the grand jury he began buying OxyContin from Joyce Knox when he was 19. He would buy about once every other week but after about four months, he began buying and using drugs on a daily basis, according to court documents. He said he purchased quantities of OxyContin, and occasionally Xanax and marijuana.

* An 18-year-old girl said she had a severe addiction to OxyContin and would purchase from Joyce Knox daily, sometimes multiple times a day.

The girl, who was 16 at the time, entered a rehabilitation facility but relapsed after being released. She moved into an apartment at the Knox property at the beginning of the year and continued to purchase OxyContin from Joyce Knox.

* A 19-year-old girl was involved in a severe car accident and began to self-medicate with OxyContin. A friend introduced her to Joyce and Randy Knox in 2005 and after the initial introduction, the girl was able to go to the Knoxes herself to buy OxyContin, according to grand jury testimony.

Her addiction grew to the point where she was buying it daily.

* A 16-year-old testified he began buying marijuana from Joyce Knox when he was 14 and was introduced to the Knoxes by a friend who lived at the Knoxes’ apartments.

And the youngest known alleged victim, now 15, said when he was 13 he began buying marijuana from Joyce Knox after his family moved into the apartments.