TAMPA — A former Pinellas-Pasco prosecutor agreed to a three-year prison sentence Monday after pleading guilty to trafficking in oxycodone pills.
Aaron Slavin, 34, who worked for the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office before opening a private practice in Largo, admitted accepting more than 200 oxycodone pills as payment for legal services in 2010. His supposed client turned out to be a police informer.
Slavin's wife, Eryn, also 34, was charged with possession of illegal drugs. On Monday, she was allowed to avoid prosecution by entering a pretrial diversion program.
The case was heard by Hillsborough Circuit Judge Gregory Holder because of Slavin's long connection to the court system in Pinellas County.
Neither Slavin nor his wife spoke at the short hearing. Besides three years in prison, he agreed to five years of probation. If he had gone to trial, he faced up to 30 years in prison. His actual sentence will be imposed March 5.
As a private lawyer, Slavin represented people charged with trafficking in oxycodone, possessing marijuana and doctor shopping.
Slavin also used to work for the State Attorney's Office in Sarasota. But he was fired in 2002 after interfering in a drunken driving investigation involving a friend, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported at the time. According to a Sarasota sheriff's memo, Slavin, then 25, was a passenger when the friend was pulled over. Slavin was accused of having "obstructed a DUI investigation" by telling his friend to refuse a breath test and answering questions for him.
After showing remorse, he was hired by the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office.
Slavin did well as a prosecutor and worked his way up to handling gang prosecutions, said Bruce Bartlett, an assistant state attorney in Pinellas. "The guy was very capable and worked hard and did a good job."
As a private lawyer, Slavin spoke against the dangers of prescription drugs. Slavin wrote an article for a website that was posted about a month before his arrest, titled "Another Day, Another Prescription Drug Overdose in the Tampa Bay Area." In it, Slavin asked, "When is enough, enough?"
Slavin is still a member of the Florida Bar Association. He will remain a member until his sentencing.
Times staff writer Curtis Krueger contributed to this report. Reach John Barry at (813) 226-3383.
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