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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A Utah doctor pleaded guilty to writing illegal oxycodone prescriptions in parking lots at pharmacies.
Paul Ray Taylor, 64, of Roy, faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine for illegal distribution of the powerful painkiller.
Taylor was under pressure by prosecutors who threatened to charged him for six reported overdose deaths. He pleaded guilty Friday. U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups set his sentencing for April 1.
The family-practice doctor in Layton lost his medical license and was indicted in November 2007.
The FBI set up several stings on a complaint Taylor wrote up prescriptions from his vehicle in parking lots of various pharmacies over a period of months, the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing revealed in an order suspending his doctor's license.
Separately, a Walgreen Co. drugstore in Layton told the agency that Taylor was in its parking lot in July 2007.
Taylor was jailed on the day of his indictment, then released in December for medical reasons, but he was ordered back to jail weeks later for speaking with a witness in his case. Waddoups on Friday declined to release him from jail pending sentencing.
Information from: Standard-Examiner
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
