Tredyffrin man sentenced in illegally prescribing drugs

The sign outside Richard A. Brown's residence advertises "general medicine" and identifies him as an "M.D.," but prosecutors hold that he has been dispensing illegal pills rather than real medical care.

On Thursday, after 31/2 years of legal battles, Brown, 67, of Tredyffrin Township, Chester County, was sentenced to eight to 16 years in state prison on 16 counts of illegally prescribing an assortment of antidepressants, painkillers, and speed from his home office a few blocks from the Strafford train station. A Chester County jury convicted him Feb. 2.

Chester County Court Judge Ronald C. Nagle ordered him to start serving his sentence right away, denying requests to free him pending appeal or to let him wait until after Passover, which begins next week.

Brown and his wife, Janice K. Brown, 53, also have been charged with tax evasion, and a trial is slated to begin next month.

"Absolutely, we're happy with Judge Nagle's sentence," said Christopher L. de Barrena-Sarobe, Chester County assistant district attorney.

"I was disappointed," said Stephen I. Baer, who represented Brown. "I believe this is a penalty that's very harsh." He said Brown would file an appeal. "He looks forward to clearing himself," Baer said.

State Senior Deputy Attorney General Nancy S. Hartsough, who led the prosecution, said she was pleased with the sentence, adding that Brown would have to serve at least six years in state prison.

"He's finally going to have face some consequences," she said. "Up to now, he hasn't. It took years to get here."

Investigators began watching Brown 10 years ago, when he was suspected of prescribing drugs without so much as performing basic medical exams.

An undercover probe found that Brown had written 90 prescriptions to "a drug abuser." He also wrote scripts for 800 Percocet pills to patients who turned out to be undercover officers.

He pleaded no contest to a single count and was given five years' probation in May 2003.

According to a grand-jury report, Brown falsified documents from two of the three foreign medical schools he attended in the 1970s and forged evaluations.

His medical license was suspended in 2004. Brown was rearrested in 2007 on more than 800 charges.

Based on the evidence, said de Barrena-Sarobe, "He wasn't a doctor at all. Essentially, his whole medical career was bogus."

As for the signage on Brown's property, Hartsough said: "We're trying to get that removed."