A federal judge today cut 1.5 years off the sentence of a former Oakmont [PA] doctor accused of trading prescription drugs for sex.
Bernard Rottschaefer, 64, of Plum, was sentenced to five years in prison. He was convicted in March 2004 of 153 counts of illegally prescribing controlled substances. U.S. District Judge Gary L. Lancaster originally sentenced Rottschaefer to 6.5 years in prison. The judge issued a new sentence today due to a later U.S. Supreme Court ruling stating the sentencing guidelines are advisory and not mandatory.
Rottschaefer was allowed to remain on bond for more than two years while he appealed his conviction. The Supreme Court declined to hear two appeals. A third attempt for a new trial is still pending.
At his trial in 2004, five female patients testified they were drug addicts who were prescribed painkillers for no medical reason. Four of the women testified that Rottschaefer wrote the prescriptions after they performed oral sex. . . .
[I]nstead of trying to prove that Rottschaefer had sexual activity with patients at his Oakmont office, prosecutors focused their case on showing Rottschaefer broke the law by knowingly prescribing controlled substances outside the course of normal medical treatment. They believe the women traded sex for drugs but said it was not necessary to prove that in order to get a conviction.
Details here from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.