Former Pa. Doctor Gets 11 To 22 Years For Trading Drugs For Sex
CLARION, Pa. (AP) - A former Pennsylvania doctor accused of overprescribing anti-addiction and anti-anxiety drugs and trading them for sex with female patients - including one who bore his child - has been sentenced to 11 to 22 years in prison.
Thomas Radecki, 70, was sentenced Wednesday by a Clarion County judge after two hours of testimony and argument from police, state prosecutors, and Radecki.
"I never prescribed a pill I didn't sincerely think wouldn't be helping patients out and I never pressured patients to do anything in exchange for treatment," Radecki told President Judge James Arner. "At no point did I think I was breaking the law or doing anything but helping patients out."
But Deputy Attorney General Mark Serge told the judge that Radecki's four clinics operating in Clarion, Clearfield, McKean and Venango counties under the name "Doctors and Lawyers for a Drug-Free Youth" were nothing more than an illegal empire.
At one point, Radecki had more than 1,000 patients, most of whom he claimed to be treating with drugs like Subutex to wean them away from heroin and other addictions. Prosecutors contend he was merely getting them hooked on the anti-addiction drugs themselves.
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Clarion County District Attorney Mark Aaron testified, telling the judge that addictions fueled by Radecki's practice are still ravaging that county.
"An addiction bomb went off in Clarion County," Aaron said. "We're still dealing with the effect of the actions of Dr. Radecki to this day."
He was convicted in April of charges including illegally administering controlled substances by a doctor, conspiracy, and running a corrupt organization.
Radecki voluntarily surrendered his Pennsylvania medical license before the grand jury report charging him was publicized by state prosecutors in 2013, a year after his offices were raided and closed by state agents.
The grand jury determined Radecki also used his home to store about $5 million worth of prescription drugs, based on the street prices he allegedly charged at his all-cash practice in 2011 and early 2012.
"Radecki referred to his residence as an 'income-sharing commune' and repeatedly invited female patients to move in with him there," the grand jury found.
Radecki would first move his new girlfriend/patient into an apartment across the street, then into his home as he jettisoned whichever woman was currently living there, the grand jury found. Radecki's girlfriends also allegedly worked at his clinics and were given money and drugs. Radecki also illegally prescribed Adderall and Ritalin, which are stimulants commonly used to treat attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders, authorities said.
Radecki must also pay $430,000 in fines from the assets of his practice that he can liquidate, the judge ruled.
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