Dr. Jerome SherardTwo former medical practitioners were sentenced to federal prison terms Thursday for their roles in a “pill mill” conspiracy that spanned several years and several locations.
Jerome Sherard, 60, a former medical doctor, received a five-year sentence. Both he and Charles “Chuck” Larmore, a nurse practitioner, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and dispense narcotic drugs at several pain clinics, known by various names, between 2009 and 2012.
Sherard and Larmore admitted to writing prescriptions for Oxycontin, Valium, Xanax, Ambien and other drugs in exchange for cash from “patients” who sometimes came from out of state and who had clearly failed drug tests, according to court documents.
Barbara Lang, known as “Aunt Bea,” was convicted of the same charges and of operating drug-involved businesses in January after a 25-day trial. Her daughter, Faith Blake, has pleaded guilty in the case but hasn’t yet been sentenced.
During a hearing Thursday before U.S. District Court Judge Curtis Collier, a federal prosecutor credited Sherard and Larmore for their willingness to accept responsibility for their actions. For that, prosecutor Gregg Sullivan said, years should be taken off their sentences.
But he also argued that wasn’t enough.
Larmore, whose hearing took place first, pleaded guilty but didn’t testify at Lang’s trial. Still, Sullivan said, he felt “lukewarm” about Larmore’s cooperation.
“Mr. Larmore has a hard time embracing his culpability,” Sullivan said.
That’s why he didn’t testify for the government at Lang’s trial, Sullivan said.
But Larmore’s attorney, Hilary Hodgkins, said Larmore was simply going through an internal struggle.
“What happened in 2010 seemed to be a complete leave of his senses,” Hodgkins said.
She said Larmore, a recovering alcoholic, cannot reconcile the act of distributing narcotics to addicts with his self-image. She called it a “suspension of disbelief.”
Sullivan responded by showing Collier statistics and charts demonstrating how prescription drug abuse has grown in the U.S. and in Tennessee over the last several years. He pointed out as well that, had Larmore been convicted of all the counts in his original charge instead of taking a plea deal, he would be facing hundreds of years in prison.
Larmore apologized for his actions and said he is takingresponsibility.
Collier sentenced Larmore to 156 months, or 13 years, in prison. He is now free on pretrial release and will begin serving that sentence in 60 days.
Sherard’s defense was much lengthier. More than a dozen people packed the courtroom Thursday to support the former doctor, who has lost his license to practice.
His attorney, Robert Meeks, argued in a motion for a sentence lower than the federal guidelines, saying Sherard’s background and history of good works should justify a lesser sentence.
Sherard was raised in housing projects in Philadelphia and never knew his father. His relationship with his mother was strained. Yet he managed to lift himself from poverty and create a career as a successful pediatrician, Meeks said.
“He has been committed to healing people all his life,” Meeks said.
More than 70 people wrote letters praising Sherard’s good works and telling the judge that if given a chance, he would turn his life around. Among the writers were Sherard’s 12- and 15-year-old sons.
“Please give my dad another chance and release him so we can continue our lives together,” one boy wrote.
Sullivan argued that his testimony at Lang’s trial helped the government win a conviction. He credited Sherard for that and asked for a lesser sentence, but he also cited the same statistics about prescription drug abuse and asked for a sentence at the top of the newly lowered range.
“This man was not practicing medicine,” Sullivan said. “What he was doing was letting pills out on the street.”
Sherard apologized to his family and asked the court for forgiveness.
Collier sentenced Sherard to 60 months, or 5 years, in prison. He praised Sherard’s hard work, but said his actions undermined all he worked for.
“He was a light on a hill,” Collier said. “What you did by your actions is put a barrel over that light, so now others cannot see that light.”
Contact staff writer Claire Wiseman at cwiseman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347. Follow her on Twitter @clairelwiseman.