Former doctor appears in court on string of drug charges
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1302&dept_id=181981&newsid=15212470&PAG=461&rfi=9
09/14/2005 SIOUX FALLS (AP) -- A man who practiced medicine in Sioux Falls and Mitchell appeared in U.S. District Court on Tuesday to face 98 drug charges.
Jack I. Dodge, 48, made his initial appearance in a federal courtroom in Sioux Falls. He had pleaded not guilty.
A federal grand jury indicted Dodge and six others on Aug. 17. Dodge was arrested in Clear Lake, Iowa, and appeared before a federal judge in Iowa late last month.
Dodge, whose South Dakota medical license was revoked last year, is accused of illegally obtaining, possessing and distributing the powerful pain killer Oxycontin.
He was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribute a controlled substance; conspiracy to obtain controlled substances by fraud; and distribution of a controlled substance.
Six other people, including Dodge's wife, were involved, federal officials said. Court papers say Dodge wrote dozens of prescriptions for Oxycontin to others in the case.
Oxycontin, a Schedule II narcotic, can sell for $30 per pill on the black market.
Federal regulations require that prescriptions for Oxycontin be written by a doctor in active practice and that anyone receiving the drug be a current patient. Court documents say none of the six others in the case was Dodge's patient at the time.
The indictment accused Dodge of writing prescriptions between June 2003 and October 2004 to the co-defendants, who then sold part of the drug back to Dodge or shared it with Dodge or his wife.
Dodge has not been employed in medicine in South Dakota since 2003. But federal prosecutors say he continued to present himself as a doctor.
Dodge had been licensed to practice medicine in Arizona, California and South Dakota. His Arizona license was suspended for alcohol abuse, his license in California was revoked shortly afterward, and South Dakota revoked Dodge's medical license in December.
Doctor, 5 others plead not guilty in drug case
09/1/05 - A former South Dakota doctor, his wife and four others have pleaded not guilty to federal drug charges.
Dr.
Jack Dodge, 48, was indicted by a grand jury in August. He is accused of writing prescriptions for Oxycontin, a narcotic, for his wife and associates, who would then allegedly sell a portion of those drugs back to Dodge or share the prescriptions with the Dodges.
Dodge practiced in Mitchell and Sioux Falls before his medical license was revoked last year for substance abuse. He appeared Tuesday before a federal magistrate judge in Iowa.
Also charged are Dodge's wife, Patricia Dodge, 44; Anthony Toliver, 42; and Karli Kiner, 29, all of Mitchell: and Nila Lewin, 45 and Randy Zimmerman, 50, of Sioux Falls. They appeared before a federal magistrate judge Wednesday in Sioux Falls.
Jack Dodge was released on the condition that he make a court appearance Sept. 13 in Sioux Falls. If convicted, he would face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
