Physician Pleads Guilty to Cocaine Possession

A Torrance doctor already forced to give up his practice for a year for illegally dispensing diet pills has been ordered to check into a drug rehabilitation center and serve three years’ probation after pleading guilty to cocaine possession.

Martin Fred Bain, 62, will enroll at the Betty Ford Clinic in Rancho Mirage for at least four weeks of rehabilitation as part of a plea agreement reached Thursday in South Bay Municipal Court.

As part of the agreement, a charge of driving under the influence of the drug will be dropped at Bain’s sentencing June 19, Deputy Dist. Atty. Diana Teran said.

Had Bain been convicted after a trial, he would have faced a mandatory 90-day jail sentence.

The charges grew out of a traffic arrest in November, 1988. Sheriff’s deputies reported that they found a vial of liquid cocaine, 40 tranquilizers, 11 hypodermic needles and $12,000 in cash in Bain’s car.

Last month, Bain agreed to close his practice for a year after pleading no contest to illegally dispensing diet pills and to charges that he allowed an unqualified office assistant to do the same.

He was also fined $5,640 and placed on three years’ probation.