Ex-doctor’s plea deal deemed too lenient

A plea deal that would have put a former Palm Beach County doctor charged in the overdose deaths of two patients behind bars for a year was rejected by a judge Wednesday.

John Christensen, 65, had pleaded guilty to two manslaughter counts and a charge of conspiracy to traffic oxycodone.

But Judge Dina Keever said Wednesday she did not think a year in prison and three years of probation was sufficient.

“I don’t believe this is a just sentence in this case,” she said.

Prosecutors had considered seeking the death penalty against Christensen, who ran a busy practice with offices in West Palm Beach, Port St. Lucie and Daytona Beach.

State prosecutors reached an agreement that a federal sentence imposed in November would serve as Christensen’s punishment for state charges. Christensen faced a maximum of five years in federal prison. The federal judge sentenced him to one year in prison and three years probation and ordered him to pay $1.1 million in restitution.

But Keever tossed that agreement Wednesday. She gave Christensen and his attorney Richard Lubin until a court hearing set for Jan. 25 to decide whether to go to trial or negotiate another plea deal.

Lubin said he thought he had reached a fair deal with prosecutors. Christensen, who is out on bond and living in Palm Beach Gardens, was set to begin his federal prison sentence Jan. 4. Keever said she’d ask for that date to be delayed until the state charges are resolved.

George Lauzerique, who brought a wrongful-death civil lawsuit against the former doctor in the 2007 overdose death of his 21-year-old son, Anthony, said he was pleased that the judge rejected the plea deal.

“Hopefully, justice will be done,” Lauzerique said.

Ken Fusco, who also sued Christensen over the 2008 overdose death of his 24-year-old son, Jason, said of the short sentence, “Money buys justice.”

The state charges were filed in 2013: two counts of first-degree murder later downgraded to manslaughter charges, and dozens of drug counts. Two years later, Christensen was indicted on 36 federal counts, including illegal distribution of controlled substances, money laundering and health-care fraud.

In September, Christensen pleaded guilty in state court to two patient