Unlicensed Physician, 65, Sentenced for Selling Drugs

A 65-year-old unlicensed doctor who sold 596,000 drug doses in two years through an Anaheim medical clinic was sentenced Monday to 3 1/2 years in prison.

Before imposing the sentence, Chief U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real in Los Angeles quietly listened to defendant Gerard F. Smith claim that he needed the money for his retirement.

Smith, whose license was revoked after he was implicated in another drug operation, said he had lost his savings to a swindler.

“Certainly I would not have been compelled to practice without a license,” Smith told Real. “I acted irrationally at the time because I was afraid of losing my house . . . .”

Real sentenced Smith’s wife, Shirley, to six months in prison and his sister, Bernadette Butler, to 90 days in jail for their roles in the enterprise.

Smith employed licensed doctors at the clinic, at 710 S. Brookhurst St. in Anaheim. Federal authorities accused Smith of using drug purchase registration numbers from physicians who worked for him to buy large quantities of drugs. His license to purchase controlled substances was lifted along with his medical license.

The clinic became a retail center for illicit drugs. Smith opened the clinic on weeknights and weekends, largely to avoid notice by the legitimate doctors on the clinic staff, federal authorities alleged.

Smith bought in bulk and sold a variety of controlled drugs, such as pain killers, tranquilizers, diet and sleeping pills, according to the charges. He and his wife packaged the drugs in unmarked vials and zip-lock bags for sale.

Smith’s lawyer, Bradley Brunon, told Real that his client acknowledged his guilt. But Brunon claimed that all his clients had “bona fide medical conditions” and said Smith’s enterprise was “more akin to practicing without a license than drug dealing.”

Assistant U.S. Atty. Joyce Karlin said the sentence should “deter professionals from becoming involved in narcotics trafficking.”

“I think it will deter other doctors from dealing drugs and unlicensed doctors from practicing medicine and deter others who help the doctors commit their crimes,” Karlin said.

Along with Smith, his wife pleaded guilty to one count of distributing Talwin, a pain killer. Smith’s sister, Bernadette Butler, also a clinic employee, enter a guilty plea to mail fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud insurers.

All three defendants were ordered to surrender and begin serving their sentences on July 5.

Smith’s previous run-ins with authorities include a a 60-day license suspension in 1978, after he was found to have prescribed excessive amounts of drugs to 61 patients over a four-month period. His license was revoked in 1985 following his indictment in 1983 on charges of selling amphetamines to a truck driver who was a former patient. The indictment was dropped after Smith’s license was suspended.