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Associated PressProsecutors say prescriptions were written for painkillers, including oxycodone, for anyone willing to pay up to $80 for an office visit.
PENSACOLA - A doctor was sentenced to life in prison for illegally prescribing and dispensing medications, including painkillers, that led to two overdose deaths.
Dr. Freddie J. Williams, 54, received the life sentence Wednesday for prescribing oxycodone that led to the death of Brian Sanders in 2002 and Bonnie Ramos in 2000.
U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers also ordered Williams to pay more than $2-million in restitution to medical insurance providers and a wholesale pharmaceutical distributor.
Williams maintained his innocence and said some patients lied to him while others forged his prescriptions.
"I prescribed narcotics in good faith and for legitimate medical purposes," Williams said.
Williams was convicted in June of 94 federal charges including conspiracy, fraud and 57 counts of illegally dispensing drugs.
Prosecutors said Williams wrote prescriptions for anyone willing to pay up to $80 for an office visit. They presented evidence that he wrote thousands of prescriptions over three years, including nearly a million doses of oxycodone.
Oxycodone is the active ingredient in OxyContin, linked to more than 100 deaths across the nation. When swallowed whole it provides 12 hours of pain relief but can produce a quick and potentially lethal high if chewed, inhaled or injected.