By Aaron Falk Deseret News
The former assistant to a Murray doctor known as “The Candy Man” pleaded guilty Tuesday to a conspiracy charge for her role in a practice investigators say left many addicted to prescription narcotics and led to at least five overdose deaths.
Mindy L. Kramer worked for Dr. Warren R. Stack from October 2001 to May 2007, making patient appointments, billing insurance providers and collecting payments. During that time, Kramer said she knew the doctor provided prescription medication to patients after a brief or no medical evaluation. “Many of Dr. Stack’s patients were generally healthy but were addicted to the drugs,” Kramer admitted in taking a plea agreement Tuesday in U.S. District Court.
Kramer pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit several offenses, including distribution of a controlled substance, health care fraud and money laundering. She faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine when she is sentenced in May.
Between January and May of 2007, Stack engaged in a practice he called “express scripts,” Kramer said in her plea agreement. Stack would meet with patients at a makeshift desk in the waiting room and issue prescriptions after a brief meeting, the former assistant said. The doctor saw as many as 80 patients a day, collecting between $70 and $200 per patient, according to court documents.
Stack has pleaded not guilty to all 18 counts in the indictment.
Attorneys for the doctor were in court Tuesday, asking a judge to separate each of the counts against Stack into its own case to limit the prejudicial effect the magnitude of the case might have on a jury. A judge denied that motion.
Stack and his attorneys, Elizabeth Hunt and Ronald J. Yengich, declined to comment on the case, which is scheduled to go to trial in April 2009.
At that trial, Kramer and another assistant, Phyllis V. Murray, are expected to testify against the doctor. Murray, who is facing the same conspiracy charge as Kramer, appeared headed for a plea agreement Tuesday, but her hearing was rescheduled because of an injury to her attorney, prosecutors said.
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