A Greensburg physician convicted of dispensing opioids for sex was sentenced Friday to more than three years in federal prison.
Dr. Milad Shaker, 52, of Greensburg was convicted of 14 counts of federal drug violations following a six-day trial in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh in October.
U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon chastised Shaker for contributing to the nation’s opioid crisis.
“Dr. Shaker, you have abused your position as a doctor, a trusted healer, by feeding the addiction of a vulnerable woman for your personal gratification. Your actions, and your utter failure to appreciate your wrongdoing, particularly amid the opioid crisis in America, and, indeed, in the Western District of Pennsylvania, are troubling. I do hope at some point you come to realize how devastating your actions were to another individual and the sentence imposed today reinforces the gravity of your actions,” Bissoon said.
In addition to prison time, U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady said Bissoon sentenced Shaker to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay a $15,000 fine.
Shaker, a primary care physician who had offices in Donegal and Mt. Pleasant, was arrested in October 2018 and charged with trading Vicodin, Percocet and Tramadol for sexual favors and sexually explicit photos and texts between October 2014 and March 2017.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert S. Cessar and Mark V. Gurzo prosecuted the case.
According to trial testimony, Shaker would meet a patient at various hotels in Westmoreland and Fayette counties and at two roadside locations to engage in sex in return for opioid prescriptions and exchanged prescriptions for texts containing sexually explicit images of the patient.
During cross examination, Shaker defended his actions. He said “opioids are like candy,” and “10 to 20 opioid pills will not hurt you.”
Shaker was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons following sentencing.
