Pubdate: Thu, 01 Dec 2005 Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA) Copyright: 2005 Richmond Newspapers Inc. Contact: http://www.timesdispatch.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365 Author: Associated Press COURT AFFIRMS S.C. DOCTORS' CONVICTIONS BUT ORDERS NEW SENTENCING RICHMOND, Va. - A federal appeals court on Thursday affirmed the convictions of three South Carolina doctors who improperly prescribed painkillers and bilked insurance companies by ordering unnecessary medical tests. However, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the doctors are entitled to a new sentencing because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that struck down mandatory sentencing guidelines. Deborah Bordeaux, Ricardo Alerre and Michael D. Jackson were convicted of drug distribution, drug conspiracy and money-laundering conspiracy. Bordeaux was sentenced last year to 24 years and four months, Alerre to 19 years and seven months and Jackson to eight years and one month. The physicians worked at the Comprehensive Care and Pain Management Center in Myrtle Beach. The center was a front for illegally selling narcotics, including OxyContin, and for carrying out a health care fraud scheme. The appeals court rejected the doctors' claim that they were entitled to a new trial because lawyers on both sides confused the standards for civil malpractice and criminal liability. "The jury entered its deliberations armed with ample admissible evidence and with proper instructions on the applicable legal principles," Judge Robert King wrote in the unanimous opinion. The doctors also unsuccessfully argued that evidence of a money-laundering conspiracy was insufficient. However, the appeals court said that even the prosecution acknowledged the defendants were entitled to a new sentencing because of the Supreme Court's ruling in U.S. v. Booker. In that case, the court ruled 5-4 that mandatory federal sentencing guidelines violated a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial because they call for judges to make factual decisions that affect prison time. Guidelines now are only advisory. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth