VA psychiatrist faces time for witness tampering
MUSKOGEE — A staff psychiatrist at the Veterans Administration hospital in Muskogee pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to witness tampering involving a patient with whom he had a sexual relationship, prosecutors said.
Stephen Lester Greer, 57, of Tulsa, faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced.
“Dr. Greer was a staff psychiatrist at the VA Hospital in Muskogee,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Douglas A. Horn in a statement. “His job was to treat and protect our veterans who visited that facility for medical care. Instead, Dr. Greer violated his oath as a doctor by having inappropriate sexual contact with a female veteran that he was treating.”
A grand jury indicted Greer on Aug. 16 on one count of witness tampering in a case that was kept sealed until Tuesday, one day before he entered the guilty plea before Magistrate Kimberly West in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, according to court records.
The indictment alleges Greer urged a woman in July 2016 to lie to federal investigators after he learned they had launched a criminal investigation into his relationship with his patient.
“When VA hospital administrators discovered the impropriety, Greer attempted to cover-up his actions by coaching the female veteran to lie to federal law enforcement officers,” Horn said.
Specifically, the indictment alleges Greer advised the woman to lie about several topics including their sexual relationship, financial assistance he provided her, the paternity of the woman’s baby and the hotel rooms they shared.
According to the indictment, Greer began seeing the unnamed woman in January 2015 as a patient in the behavioral health unit of the VA Medical Center.
Sometime that year, the two exchanged personal cellphone numbers and began a sexual relationship while at the same time Greer continued to maintain a doctor-patient relationship with her, according to the indictment.
It alleges the woman saw Greer for regularly scheduled appointments. On several occasions after the appointments, Greer would drive her to motels in the Muskogee area where they had sex. The practice continued until about June 29, 2016, the indictment states.
After the woman became pregnant in spring 2016, Greer sent her a text message concerning the pregnancy: “Woman 45 and older lose over half of their pregnancies. Miscarriage in 50%. Placenta Previa, ectopic pregnancy, comorbid fibroid, birth defects and hydatidiform moles take a portion of the remaining pregnancies.
“We both want our daughter to live but the odds are stacked against us. If she makes it, it will be an uphill battle.”
The woman notified Greer in late May that she had miscarried, according to the indictment.
On June 23, 2016, the indictment alleges, Greer drove the woman to the VA Medical Center where she was admitted to the inpatient behavioral health unit and Greer ordered a pregnancy test be administered.
One week later, hospital officials learned from an employee that Greer and the woman were seen checking in at a local Muskogee motel the day before, according to the indictment.
On July 1, VA officials began investigating the allegations and Greer was assigned to non-patient cases, the indictment says.
On July 6, the indictment alleges, Greer drove to the woman’s home and told her that federal law enforcement officers planned to interview her the next day.
Greer coached the woman about what to say to investigators and later said that they both should destroy their cellphones, according to the indictment.
Greer ceased practicing July 2, 2017, according to the Oklahoma Medical Licensure Board website. His license status is listed as inactive.
The Oklahoman reported in 2005 that Greer was disciplined by the Oklahoma Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision after being accused of inappropriately touching, kissing and caressing a patient in his office, in a Broken Arrow motel and in his car. The report indicated the board suspended Greer’s medical license.