The trial of pharmacist and Bridgeport Mayor Mario Blount has officially been scheduled for Dec. 1, according to an employee in the office of U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley.

 

Today’s announcement, which was part of a status conference that Keeley’s law clerk Emily Renzelli said  would take place today, comes on the heels of last Thursday’s decision by Keeley to grant a joint motion for continuance. The trial was originally scheduled for August 4.

 

The trials for Angela Davis and April Davis will also take place on Dec. 1.

 

Blount was charged June 3 with three felony counts relating to the improper distribution of prescription painkillers. The charges are of conspiracy to possess and distribute schedule II controlled substances, distribution of oxycodone and failure to reporting the filing of a prescription as required under federal law. He was arrested without incident on that June day and was then released.

 

Angela Davis of Bridgeport and her 23-year-old daughter April Davis of Marietta, Ga. are charged with conspiring with Blount to possess and distribute oxycodone and other prescription painkillers. Angela Davis has also been charged with attempting to fraudulently obtain controlled substances and with the attempted distribution of oxycodone.

 

Blount faces up to 20 years in prison on the conspiracy and distribution charges and up to four years on the failure to report a prescription charge that is included in the indictment. Angela Davis and April Davis each face up to 20 years in prison. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

 

The arrests came after the Oct. 9, 2013 raid of the Bridgeport location of Best Care Pharmacy, which Blount is no longer affiliated with. The pharmacies under the same name in Belington and Lumberport were also raided that day. 

 

A final pretrial hearing is set for Nov. 14. The trial is anticipated to last up to a week or more.

 

Click HERE for last week's story.