Judge says no to one-year term for pill mill doctor
John Christensen could face up to five years on manslaughter counts.
WEST PALM BEACH — Calling a 12-month sentence for two counts of manslaughter unjust, a Palm Beach County judge on Wednesday threw out a plea deal for former pill mill doctor John Christensen and ordered attorneys to go back to the drawing board.
When Circuit Judge Dina Keever in September approved the complex agreement that enabled Christensen to settle both the state and federal charges he faced, state prosecutors said they expected the 65-year-old former West Palm Beach doctor would receive a five-year sentence for causing the overdose deaths of two patients.
However, a federal judge in Orlando gave him a 12-month term on a charge of conspiracy to commit health c are fraud. The sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Carlos Mendoza t r umped whatever s e nt e nc e Keever imposed, according to the plea agreement. While Keever could have handed Christensen a five-year sentence, he would still walk out of federal prison a free man after serving a year behind bars, according to the deal.
“I don’t believe 12 months is an appropriate sentence in a case involving manslaughter charges,” Keever said. “I hate to kick the can down the road. I know a lot of people want it to be resolved, as I do. But I want a just sentence.”
Attorney Richard Lubin, who negotiated what all agreed was a rare and stunningly generous deal for Christensen, said he wasn’t surpri sed by Keever’s ruling. In announcing her decision, Keever cited Florida Supreme Court orders that give trial judges wide latitude in meting out punishment.
However, Keever acknowledged she was still bound by part of the agreement. Since she agreed a fiveyear sentence was appropriate when she allowed Christensen to plead guilty to two counts of manslaughter and one count of conspiracy to traffic in oxycodone, she indicated that is the limit. However, she said, she doesn’t have to completely cede her power to the federal judge as contemplated by the plea deal.
That means she could add another four years onto Christensen’s sentence when he returns to court on Jan. 25, she said.
She said the plea deal was carefully explained to her. However, she said, she’s not certain Mendoza realized he was tying her hands. Even Lubin acknowledged that the 12-month sentence was surprisingly lenient.
Christensen, who operated A1A Health & Wellness Clinic on Broadway, once faced the death penalty for causing the overdose deaths. He also faced roughly 70