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North Idaho doctor gets 16 years in prison |
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November 30, 2017 |
Dr. Rafael Beier, 63, of Kingston, was sentenced
Wednesday to 192 months in federal prison
followed by ten years of supervised release for
unlawfully distributing oxycodone and
hydrocodone, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis
announced.
Senior U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge also
ordered Beier to pay a $63,000 fine and to
forfeit proceeds of $732,800.
In May 2016, a north Idaho jury found Beier
guilty of conspiring to distribute oxycodone and
hydrocodone and 61 separate counts of
distributing a controlled substance.
It is unlawful for a doctor to distribute
controlled substances outside the usual course
of their professional practice and not for a
legitimate medical purpose.
Evidence at trial showed that between 2012 and
May 2014, Beier sold prescriptions for highly
addictive drugs like oxycodone, Adderall and
hydrocodone in exchange for cash at locations
such as bars, parking lots, stores, as well as
his office. The jury heard evidence that Dr.
Beier created false medical charts to explain
the illegal drug sales.
The jury also saw the prescriptions written by
Beier, a video of Beier discussing his drug
sales with a witness and an audio recording of a
government informant buying a prescription from
Beier in a bathroom stall.
Witnesses included co-conspirators who sold
pills for Beier, non-patients whose names were
used on prescriptions and a number of people who
bought prescriptions from Beier. Several
witnesses testified about the substantial
negative effect that opioid addiction had on
their lives.
"Dr. Beier let greed, sexual satisfaction and
the power of a prescription pad cloud his
judgment,” Judge Lodge said.
The case was investigated by FBI, the DEA and
North Idaho Violent Crimes Task Force.
Beier practiced family medicine in Pinehurst. He
received his medical degree from Kansas City
University of Medicine and Biosciences and had
been in practice for more than 20 years. |
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