FROM ACCUSED CRIMINAL
TO LAWYER Cleared of drug charges, pharmacist switches career, and even he admits it’s a strange one.
Roughly three years ago, Peter Del Toro was facing 295 years in prison.
Today, the 44-year-old Jensen Beach father of two is shopping for office space to open a law practice.
“Technically, I’m not supposed to be here. I’m supposed to be dead. Well, I’m supposed to be in prison and that’s being dead,” Del Toro said of the drastic turn his life has taken since February 2014, when the words “not guilty” rang out 36 times in a federal courtroom in West Palm Beach.
Jubilant that the jury acquitted him and Jupiter internist Dr. Timothy Sigman of dozens of drug charges for allegedly operating a multi-million-dollar steroid ring, Del Toro knew he didn’t want to return to his former life.
With a doctorate in pharmacy from the University of Florida, he could have reopened his once bustling Treasure Coast Specialty Pharmacy, which was shut down by government agents when they accused him and Sigman of being high-tech drug dealers for men who were looking for the fountain of youth.
But he said that during the years he spent fighting the accusations, he became fascinated with the law and the affect it has on people’s lives.
Three days after the verdict, he began applying to law schools. He got a full scholarship to St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami. He graduated top in his class. In December, he choked back tears as he gave the valedictory speech to fellow graduates.
A couple of weeks ago, he returned to court, where family members, Sigman and other friends watched as Martin County Judge Darren Steele issued an oath, swearing him into the Florida Bar.
The journey from pharmacist to accused criminal to lawyer has been a strange one, he admits.
The son of a retired cop and brother of an assistant police chief in Port St. Lucie, Del Toro grew up in a religious family, surrounded by law enforcement officers and health care workers. He was taught to be self reliant and to help others.
But when he learned federal prosecutors wanted him to spend the rest of his life in prison, he felt powerless.
“I knew how scared I was,” he said. “I couldn’t even help myself.”
He watched his West Palm Beach lawyers — first Richard Keith Alan II and later Tama Kudman. While he helped them understand the complex rules pharmacists must follow, they also were juggling other complex cases that were equally important to others entangled in the criminal justice system.
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