Long Beach doctor admits 1 misdemeanor after facing a 66-count pill mill indictment
A pain management doctor in Long Beach first charged in a 66-count indictment accusing him of running a pill mill pleaded guilty Friday to a misdemeanor offense.
Robert Weimer, 74, of Stephenville, Texas, was charged through a bill of information with one count of distribution of the painkiller oxycodone.
Weimer entered the guilty plea in federal court in Gulfport.
Judge Sul Ozerden sentenced him to three years probation and ordered him to pay $9,500 in fines.
In an unexpected twist in the case, prosecutors dismissed all previous charges, including others filed in superseding indictments related to allegations of running a prescription pill mill.
“This is a major victory,” Weimer’s attorney, Michael Crosby said. “I am extremely pleased that we were able to conclude this matter with the dismissal of all the allegations that he breached his duties to his patients.”
What Weimer confessed to Friday was to writing a prescription on April 14, 2014, but post-dating it for April 24, 2014, and then mailing it to an assistant. The assistant, the charging document said, gave it to the patient.
That’s a huge difference from what prosecutors initially accused him of in February 2019, when a federal grand jury indicted him on 66 felony charges, including 59 counts related to illegally prescribing pain killers, muscle relaxers and sedatives.
Prosecutors said he had spent the money made off the pill mill to buy a Harley Davidson motorcycle, an off-road vehicle and a race car and to pay off debts and property in Saucier and Texas.
Weimer denied any criminal wrongdoing from the time he was first charged and later went to trial. The trial resulted in a mistrial because the jury couldn’t reach a verdict.
The misdemeanor charge he admitted to carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison.
“This was a procedural error where, while he was recovering from open heart surgery, he predated the prescriptions to make sure his patients could continue uninterrupted care.,” Crosby said. “He wasn’t running a pill mill.”
As as result of no longer facing the felony charges, Crosby said, Weimer’s reputation as a stellar doctor remains in tact.
At this trial, Weimer said he had simply treated his most chronic patients with opioids, muscle relaxers and anti-anxiety medicine to give them relief.
Federal prosecutor had accused Weimer of demanding cash from patients for large doses of opioids.
As of result of only facing a misdemeanor conviction, any property seized during the initial investigation is being returned to Weimer all the way down to the cash he had on him at the time of his arrest, Crosby said.
This story was originally published June 18, 2021 at 12:03 PM.
