Doctor from Moon sentenced for her role in scheme to sell Suboxone prescriptions to addicts.

A Moon doctor was sentenced Wednesday to probation and community service for her role in a scheme to hand out Suboxone prescriptions to addicts for cash at a Washington County- based addiction clinic.

The manager of the clinic also received probation.

Before a courtroom so packed with relatives and supporters that one woman had to wait outside, U. S. District Judge Arthur Schwab imposed a term of three years on Madhu Aggarwal, 69, a contract physician at Redirections Treatment Advocates and a well- known obstetrician for more than 30 years in Weirton, W. Va.

She had admitted to conspiring with the owner, Jennifer Hess, to dole out Suboxone for cash without medical exams or any real treatment program.

She was paid $ 70 for every addict who visited the clinic, regardless of whether she saw the patient. Often she wasn’t even in the office and pre- signed prescriptions for Hess or others to complete.

“The defendant was a

well- respected doctor with a good job and family,” Assistant U. S. Attorney Robert Cessar said in sentencing papers. “She also was a drug dealer in a white lab coat.”

Her lawyer, Phillip DiLucente, argued for leniency, saying his client has led an otherwise honest life as an OB- GYN who delivered more than 10,000 babies in her career.

Born in India in 1950, she came to the U. S. from England in 1977 with her husband, Krishan Aggarwal, also a doctor, and settled in Weirton. She became a U. S. citizen in 1983, when she began operating her own obstetrics practice, which ended last year. She also worked as an OB- GYN at Weirton Medical Center since 2014.

Although Madhu Aggarwal pleaded guilty, Mr. DiLucente maintained that his client got involved with the treatment center to help addicts and was duped by Hess and the facility’s manager, Chris Handa.

“She willingly accepted responsibility for her actions and was disgusted learning what was actually taking place at the clinic,” he wrote in court papers.

Madhu Aggarwal apologized in court and later wept as she left with her family.

“I’m very, very sorry,” she told the judge. “Your honor, I ask for forgiveness.”

The judge ordered that she be on home detention for six months, perform 100 hours of community service, pay $ 82,900 in restitution and a $ 40,000 fine, and forfeit another $ 50,000.

She surrendered her medical license in 2018.

Shortly after her hearing, Judge Schwab sentenced Handa to two years of probation.

Unlike the others, Handa, 49, did not benefit from the scheme financially beyond receiving a salary from the clinic, which had five offices in Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. His lawyer, Ralph Karsh, also portrayed him as a victim of Hess, saying that he didn’t initially realize that what he was doing was illegal but then bought into the fraud.

“Mr. Handa drank the Kool- Aid,” Mr. Karsh said.

As part of his probation, the judge ordered him to be on home detention for 90 days, perform 50 hours of community service and pay $ 40,000 in restitution.

Hess has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.

Madhu Aggarwal and her husband were among five contract doctors at RTA indicted in 2018. She pleaded guilty, as did Dr. Michael Bummer of Sewickley. Dr. Krishan Aggarwal and another doctor, Cherian John of Coraopolis, were prosecuted in West Virginia but recently acquitted at trial.

A fifth physician, Bharill Parth, is awaiting trial in West Virginia.

All worked under contract for Hess at clinics in Washington, Bridgeville and three West Virginia towns.

Prosecutors said RTA was a volume business. The clinics accepted cash or credit cards, charging $ 175 for an initial visit and $ 120 after that.

The doctors conducted only cursory exams and no follow- ups, according to federal agents. RTA also didn’t provide any counseling as required by law.

Madhu Aggarwal and Michael Bummer signed blank prescriptions in advance. Hess and Handa filled them out with the patient’s name, birth date and the prescription amount.

Sometimes they signed for the doctors, who were paid based on the number of patients who came through the door.

Judge Schwab will sentence Hess in October.