From The Mountain Advocate -
A Barbourville City councilman and local pharmacist has resigned from his council seat ahead of turning himself in to federal authorities. Calvin Manis tendered his resignation to Mayor David Thompson, effective Monday, March 22, 2021.
A special-called meeting for the Barbourville City Council has been called for Wednesday, March 24 to appoint a new council member to replace Manis.
Manis, who was indicted on 16 counts on federal drug charges in July 2020, plead guilty to count one on Friday, March 5, 2021. The count stated that between December 2015 and August 2019 he knowingly and intentionally distributed schedule-two controlled substance outside the scope of professional practice and without legitimate medical purpose. As part of the plea deal, federal prosecutors dismissed counts 2-16.
Manis’ indictment states that the penalty for count one could be “not more than 20 years imprisonment, a fine of not more than $1,000,000, and supervised release of at least three years.”
The Lexington-Herald Leader reported that Manis' forfeitures exceed $600,000. The Parkway Pharmacy building was valued at $425,000 while the pharmacy was reported to have $216,764 in its bank account.
Manis also acknowledged having a relationship with eight Tennessee doctors involved in an alleged drug conspiracy. Manis, or his employees, reportedly dispensed more than 35,000 pain pills illicitly.
Another Barbourville man, John Pasternak, who was indicted along with Manis, also plead guilty to the same charge. His plea deal included a judgement of $250,000 to the government.
Manis was set to report to the United States Marshals Service at the federal courthouse in London at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, March 24, 2021, where he will be remanded to custody pending sentencing which was set for 1:30 p.m. on July 7.