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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Prosecutors are appealing a federal judge's decision to reduce the sentence for a Brigham City doctor convicted of illegally prescribing painkillers to patients.
Federal prosecutors on Friday asked the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate the original sentence for Dewey MacKay so he can be returned to prison. He was officially released Tuesday from prison.
U.S. District Judge Dee Benson originally sentenced MacKay to 20 years after a jury found him guilty in 2011 of illegally distributing prescription drugs, including to one man who died.
MacKay appealed and the appeals court sent the case back to Benson. Benson then ruled the mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years for the patient's death was no longer required after a Supreme Court ruling and resentenced him to three years behind bars.
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