Published: December 29, 2008 09:55 pm      

Former Lewis doctor convicted again

VANCEBURG — A former Lewis County physician has been convicted for a second time of over-prescribing pain medication to drug-seeking patients.

A Lewis Circuit Court jury earlier this month found Fortune J. Williams guilty of a single count of illegally prescribing a controlled substance, a Class D felony. The same jury recommended Williams be sentenced to the maximum five years on the charge.

Williams was originally convicted in 2003 on four counts of writing illegal prescriptions and sentenced to 20 years in prison. However, in November 2006, the Kentucky Supreme Court overturned Williams’ conviction and ordered a retrial.

The high court ruled patient files seized from Williams’ office during a 2001 raid by investigators with the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure were illegally obtained and should not have been used as evidence against him at his trial.

Justices found Williams’ constitutional rights were violated because his office was raided without a warrant. At the time, state law gave medical board agents the authority to conduct searches of doctors’ offices without warrants or subpoenas. However, the high court ruled the practice was unconstitutional in Williams’ case because the interests of the agents were closely intertwined with those of law enforcement.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Department began investigating Williams in 2001 after receiving numerous complaints about the traffic at his Garrison pain clinic and about apparently intoxicated people loitering around the premises. The sheriff’s department contacted state authorities, who learned from reviewing the Kentucky All-Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting that Williams was prescribing large amounts of various drugs.

The high court’s ruling meant none of the 32 patient files removed from Williams’ office could be used as evidence against him in his new trial, said Commonwealth’s Attorney Cliff Duvall, who prosecuted the case.

The count on which the jury convicted Williams stemmed from a prescription for 60 Vicodin tablets he wrote to a woman who was carrying recording equipment and acting as an undercover informant for investigators. Williams wrote the prescription after an examination lasting less than 30 seconds, according to a video presented by the prosecution.

Williams also gave the woman a prescription for Valium, but the jury found him not guilty on a charge stemming from that, and on two others stemming from a separate visit by the informant.

Under state sentencing guidelines, Williams will be eligible for parole after he has served 20 percent, or one year, of his sentence. He has credit for 260 days he has already spent behind bars, meaning he would be able to meet with the parole board about three months after his final sentencing, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. Jan. 30.

Judge Bob Conley allowed Williams to remain free on bond pending his sentencing hearing.

KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.