Skip to content
News
Link copied to clipboard

Pill-mill doc's last stand

Closing arguments in trial for alleged drug-dealing doctor

Levittown doctor William J. O'Brien III is accused of running a pill mill with strippers and members of an outlaw motorcycle gang.
Levittown doctor William J. O'Brien III is accused of running a pill mill with strippers and members of an outlaw motorcycle gang.Read morePhiladelphia Business Journal

IN WILLIAM J. O'BRIEN'S eyes, the U.S. government and members of the FBI are a bunch of "liars" and "bullies" who have charged him with drug-related offenses for no legitimate reason.

But to Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Leahy and her colleagues, O'Brien is a doctor who conspired with the Pagans Motorcycle Club to deal drugs, trade pills for oral sex, and write multiple prescriptions without any type of medical standard or diagnosis.

These were the main points in closing arguments in a trial in which O'Brien, who has acted as his own attorney, is accused of 14 counts of drug and related charges, stemming from a "pill mill" he allegedly ran with the motorcycle club.

Though his codefendants have pleaded guilty and assisted federal prosecutors in their investigation, O'Brien remained optimistic Monday about the verdict.

"Just the fact I'm going head-to-head with [the government] and in my mind I've beaten them 23 days in a row . . . it should be an embarrassment to the United States government," he told the jury in his closing argument.

Leahy, however, told the jury that O'Brien was dealing drugs, not practicing medicine.

"The only difference between this man and a street dealer is that this man hid behind a diploma," she said.

O'Brien, 51, graduated from La Salle University and is a former Democratic candidate for Bucks County coroner.

Leahy played several audio and video clips of people who asked for or bought pills from O'Brien. One was FBI Special Agent Heather Whelan, who posed as an undercover patient in 2014.

One video showed a conversation in which O'Brien offered Whelan painkillers in exchange for oral sex, or "blues for a blow."

Leahy added that O'Brien had done so with other patients, including Deanna Lane and Kathleen Reeves, both of whom were interviewed by the FBI.

But O'Brien contended that they - along with almost everyone else in the investigation that led to his arrest in January 2015 - lied about his involvement in the alleged pill mill.

He specifically criticized FBI Special Agent Joshua Gill multiple times, saying he lied during the investigation and during his testimony June 2.

"I'll do 400 years in prison," he said Monday. "Just give me 10 minutes in a room with Josh Gill."

Leahy said in an interview that while 400 years was a possible sentence if O'Brien is convicted, that would be unlikely, because he would have to receive the statutory maximum for each of the charges against him. She declined to comment further about her closing argument.

Madison West, a spokeswoman for O'Brien, said they are hoping the jury finds him not guilty.

bohnels@phillynews.com

215-854-5912 @Steve_Bohnel