Pharmacist cops plea in agreement on diluting drugs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Pharmacist Robert R. Courtney has reached a plea agreement with the government on charges that he diluted chemotherapy drugs given to cancer patients, his attorney says.

Courtney attorney Jean Paul Bradshaw would not say what type of plea Courtney would enter, but said that in "a case like this, it would be unusual for the government to agree to anything less than to a straight-out guilty plea."

Bradshaw, a former U.S. Attorney, said Courtney's plea agreement addresses sentencing, although Courtney's sentence is up to Judge Ortrie Smith.

Bradshaw declined to specify the sentencing agreement with prosecutors.

Courtney had pleaded innocent to all 20 charges in the case, but a change of plea hearing has been scheduled today in U.S. District Court, where Smith has already set aside overflow seating.

If convicted on all 20 charges, Courtney faced up to 196 years in prison.