Massapequa doctor Saji Francis plead guilty Thurs­day to illegally selling prescription drugs out of his of­fice adjacent to Massapequa High School.

Francis, who was arrested and charged in Decem­ber, 2009, plead to nine Class C felonies in an agree­ment with Judge Jeager that limits his sentence to six months in jail and five years probation.

The agreement is contingent upon certain restric­tions set down including that he not break any laws or enter in any illegal activities of any kind during his probationary period. The sentence is expected to be handed down at the next court date set for September 20.

Prosecutor and Assistant District Attorney Teri Cor­rigan was asking for two years in an upstate prison with maximum post release supervision, a sentence that some Massapequans believe would have been more appropriate.

“We’re very disappointed at Drug Free Massapequa,” said Janice Talento, president of DFM, an organization that looks to help reduce drug abuse in the community. Theoutcome was that a kid who has two DWIs gets more parole than this guy does. It’s a little discourag­ing.”

At the hearing was Teri Kroll of Copiague, whose son Timothy died in August 2009 after years of suffer­ing from depression and abusing drugs. He was seeing Dr. Francis for headaches and received five prescrip­tions

for drugs over a four-month period, an excessive amount according to Kroll. Corrigan requested to have the Krolls submit a victim impact statement when Fran­cis appears in court for sentencing September 20. “We’re hoping that more people come forward who have bought illegal prescriptions or drugs from Dr. Francis so we can make a bigger case,” said Talento. “We’re trying to reach out to our community to findother people, even if we can only use this as an example and set a better precedent for next time.”

Drug Free Massapequa is asking that anyone who has been treated by Dr. Francis and who has been given prescription drugs illegally to to call them at 516-308-4068 or email them at info@dfmli.org.

Francis, whose Merrick Road property was taken un­der federal forfeiture, also had his medical license sus­pended and could face deportation. He is from India and not a U.S. citizen.

The guidelines for the Challenge require that stu­dents learn how an individual’s own wise energy choices and environmental stewardship can help re­duce energy consumption and improve the commu­nity. Students must also explore new and creative ways to make a difference in the way one uses energy and communicates energy ideas and actions to others.

Each project was judged and graded by a panel of independent educators, energy professionals and se­lected experts who chose a national elementary, mid­dle and high school winner. The projects were then grouped by class, and the teacher whose class had the highest score is named teacher of the year.

“I thought Samantha was actually going to be the national winner; the second I saw it, I knew that it was really good,” said Mulcahy. “When I got the phone call that I was the winner, I thought they were calling me to tell me Sam won.”

Samantha’s family had recently made the switch from plastic water bottles to aluminum reusable bot­tles. While thinking of a topic for her project, Saman­tha wondered if using plastic water bottles wasted en­ergy. After researching with her mother, she found out how much energy is wasted every time someone uses and disposes of a plastic water bottle.

Samantha made a PowerPoint presentation demon­strating the amount of energy that could be saved if everyone in her school switched to reusable bottles. She determined that if a student brought a plastic water bottle to school each day, they would use 181 plastic water bottles, which requires 905 ounces or almost 20 percent of a barrel of oil to make. “Sam’s presentation did a great job of illustrating an easy way her fellow students can practice environ­mental conservaton,” said Dan Haffle, K-12 account executive for Johnson Controls. “The Johnson Con­trols team commends her for her efforts to spread eco-awareness in her community.” With a presentation comprised of both words and visual images, Montella's message was made clear.

Because of her presentation, Birch Lane Elemen­tary took initiative and ordered aluminum bottles just like the one Samantha and her family uses. Thestudent government is now selling them for $6, and more than 200 sold within the first two days they be­came available. “This came about after the presentation but before the award,” said Mulcahy. “We realized it was a good idea regardless of whether she won or not. Sa­mantha also received a citation from the Superinten­dent at the school board meeting June 17 and a solar powered backpack that charges personal electronics such as cell phones and MP3 players.