Ricky Headley, the "singing sheriff" of Williamson County, Tennessee, performed a rousing 1½ hour set at the local county fair back in August, while opening the show for country star George Jones. One fan said the sheriff “certainly put on one heck of a show" – but that's what the sheriff's detractors have been saying since his arrest last January for illegally obtaining at least 1,900 prescription painkillers in a three month period. The day after his arrest, Sheriff Headley admitted to a prescription drug addiction and entered a 30-day drug rehab program.

This week, a Williamson County grand jury indicted Sheriff Headley on four counts of official misconduct growing out of his January arrest on charges that he fraudulently obtained prescription drugs from Brooks Pharmacy in Nashville. The charge of official misconduct is a felony. A Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokesperson said the official misconduct charges stem from allegations that he used a county vehicle, was on county time and represented himself as a public servant when he obtained the drugs illegally. The sheriff was held for 3 hours and released on $5,000 bond. Headley stated he is seeking drug rehab treatment, but he apparently also went into drug rehab back in January after being arrested. If convicted of the felony charges, it was expected that Headley could lose his position as sheriff whether he completes drug rehab or not.

Several other people have also been arrested and jailed, including Glenn Brooks, the owner of Brooks Pharmacy, an employee of the pharmacy and other members of the public. Brooks was alleged to have dispensed drugs without prescriptions to several individuals and was the subject of a two-year investigation. Headley was caught quite by accident when seen entering the pharmacy and receiving the drugs without a prescription.

Almost all the drugs dispensed illegally or removed from the pharmacy were Lortab, an addictive painkiller that contains the narcotic hydrocodone which is sending thousands of people into drug rehab programs around the world. Hydrocodone is the main ingredient of the infamous painkiller OxyContin, or "hillbilly heroin," that has been in the news this year after its maker, Purdue Pharma, and three top executives, were fined $634 million for fraudulently marketing the drug as safer than other painkillers. The co-conspirators in the Brooks Pharmacy scandal who may have been taking Lortab and not just selling it should run, not walk, to the nearest drug rehab center.

A good, long-term drug rehab should be on Sheriff Headley's to-do list sooner rather than later. If what the press reports say is true, he illegally obtained at least 1,900 Lortab and Soma pills for his own use, not to sell to others. Unlike hydrocodone, Soma is more benign, a muscle relaxant intended to relieve muscle pain with only limited abuse potential. But Soma is known for its "potentiating" effect on other drugs – potentiate meaning to enhance or increase the effect of another drug – particularly on opioids such as hydrocodone. In other words, it boosts the bang, and can increase its dangers.

According to the arrest reports, Headley's 1,900 pills were received between October 2006 and January 2007. If we include all of October through January and do some math, we get 15 pills a day. If the good sheriff was using that much Lortab with Soma – a fairly prodigious addiction for a county sheriff to keep secret – it's reasonable to ask how he managed to stay on the job for eight months since his arrest without a continuing supply of narcotics to support his addiction.

The most likely answer (unless he was giving the drugs to someone else) is that Headley completed his 30-day drug rehab he entered the day after his arrest, and it proved so effective that he was able to get a good handle on his prescription drug addiction, and get back on the job. If not, he'll obviously need a longer-term drug rehab program.