A judge said he was prepared to sentence a former Little Rock doctor to nearly two years in prison Friday for keeping quiet about a "pill mill" in early 2015, but the doctor's remorse and willingness to help authorities earned him a probation-only sentence.
Shawn Michael Brooks, 46, who worked at the KJ Medical Clinic from December 2014 though March 12, 2015, pleaded guilty in May 2016 to a charge of misprision of a felony -- or knowing about a crime but failing to report it. Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided the clinic and shut it down May 20, 2015, saying it was part of a conspiracy to illegally distribute hydrocodone and Xanax for resale on the street.
Brooks admitted that while working at the clinic at 11215 Hermitage Road, just off Chenal Parkway, he wrote illegitimate prescriptions for 156,630 10mg hydrocodone tablets and 125,546 2mg Xanax tablets. That amount of drugs put him at risk of up to three years in prison under federal statutes, while federal sentencing guidelines recommended 15 to 21 months in prison and a fine of $3,000 to $30,000.
But Brooks' attorney, Ryan Allen of North Little Rock, argued for probation, pointing out that Brooks pleaded guilty only four days after being indicted, and that two misdemeanor theft convictions in his past unfairly increased his recommended sentence range, because both occurred while he was on medication "and didn't know what he was doing."
Allen also cited Brooks' willingness to tell investigators "everything he knew," and his success at finding another job while on probation and remaining "clean on drugs and alcohol" when periodically tested by probation officers.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Gardner acknowledged that "in 2011, Brooks' life kind of went off the rail," referring obliquely to something in a confidential pre-sentence report. And she agreed that the thefts of Xbox console controllers were "out of the ordinary" for Brooks, who she said may have been suffering from "some kind of manic episode brought on by medication or depression."
Gardner added that Brooks, unlike many other defendants in cases who eventually pleaded guilty, was available to help the government, was truthful and was "very remorseful."
She also noted that he has surrendered his medical license and agreed not to seek another medical license or a DEA license to prescribe drugs in any other state.
"I am very remorseful," Brooks told U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. "This is something that is out of my character."
"To be candid," Moody said, "when I came in, I was inclined to give you the high end of the guideline range," after considering the advantages Brooks had had in life that allowed him to earn a medical degree.
But taking into account his forfeited medical license and his cooperation, Moody said he would authorize a sentence below the guideline range and sentenced Brooks to five years' probation.
Moody also ordered Brooks to perform 400 hours of community service work over that five-year period, which he said amounts to two weeks of service each year, and ordered him to participate in a substance abuse program and possibly a mental health program.
About a month before Brooks pleaded guilty in the case, Jerry Scott Reifeiss, 61, of Conway, another doctor who started working at the clinic when Brooks left, pleaded guilty to a more serious distribution conspiracy charge. He died in July, before he could be sentenced.
At a jury trial in August, a supervising doctor at the clinic, Felicie Wyatt, was acquitted of conspiring to distribute illegal drugs, as was a physician's assistant, Aaron Borengasser, both of whom testified that they didn't realize that the clinic was a "pill mill." Both are now back to practicing medicine.
A nurse practitioner at the clinic, Kristin Raines, was convicted of participating in the conspiracy but hasn't yet been sentenced. Anthony Markeith King of Texas, a co-owner of the clinic, pleaded guilty before the trial and is serving a 10-year sentence.
Metro on 04/01/2017