20 yrs. for old drug doc
Pushed 2 million deadly opioid pills
There was no sympathy for this drug-dispensing devil.
An octogenarian doctor whose illegal opioid prescriptions killed a 27-yearold patient was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in federal prison for his wanton distribution of the deadly pills — an almost-guaranteed life term for the frail physician.
Dr. Martin Tesher, 83, of Manhattan, “is a pill-pushing animal,” said Krystal Benedetto, who found the lifeless body of her brother Nicholas in March 2016.
“He’s just as bad as a drug dealer on the street,” she said after the sentencing. “He’s actually worse. The biggest thing is that even after being sentenced, he couldn’t look over to us and apologize to me and my mom.”
According to Krystal, her brother “walked into (Tesher’s) office in Manhattan and three days later he was dead.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Sasso, speaking at the Brooklyn Federal Court sentencing, noted that Tesher “doled out millions of pills” and agreed the doctor showed “an utter lack of remorse” for his actions.
The longtime physician was convicted last July of prescribing oxycodone tablets and fentanyl patches to five patients despite knowing or having reason to suspect each was already a drug addict. He also pleaded to one count of unlawful distribution of the drugs leading to the death of Benedetto.
“It’s a death sentence!” shouted one of the doctor’s dozens of friends and supporters in the courtroom when the jail term was announced.
Judge Raymond Dearie, though initially amenable to giving the elderly defendant a break, said he read nothing in the collection of letters written by Tesher’s supporters to warrant any compassion.
“As receptive as I was to any claim that might in some fashion give the court reasonable sentencing latitude … I’ve come up dry, and that’s unfortunate,” said Dearie. “It’s not a good day for Dr. Tesher, not a particularly pleasant day for me, either.”
Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue showed little tolerance for the doctor’s penchant for prescribing potentially deadly drugs unlawfully. When Tesher was arrested in 2017, authorities alleged he had needlessly written 14,000 oxycodone prescriptions that produced 2.24 million painkiller pills.
“In the midst of an unprecedented opioid epidemic, Dr. Tesher used his medical skills to harm, not heal,” said Donoghue. “And in doing so, he cost a young man his life. Such criminal conduct is an utter betrayal of the trust our society places in doctors.”
Tesher, whose ailing wife must use a wheelchair, was given until Aug. 5 to surrender and start his sentence. He insisted on his innocence in the face of his conviction and the evidence.
“Why would I jeopardize my life’s work and risk my reputation by doing something that was criminal?” he asked.
Krystal Benedetto, who was with her husband and 6-year-old son on the morning when they found Nick’s lifeless body turning purple, took some solace in the harsh sentence.
“Justice has been served,” she said. “He’s going to spend his last day in jail, and that kind of evens it out a little bit.”