Doctor gets five years probation in drug case

WARREN - A Vienna Township physician will serve 90 days in an alternative sentencing program and five years on probation after pleading guilty to drug charges stemming from allegations that he traded Vicodin for sexual favors.

Trumbull Common Pleas Judge Andrew Logan sentenced Dr. Mark Davis, 47, of Howland, Tuesday on two counts of drug trafficking. During the sentencing Logan chastised Davis for violating his position of trust.

The judge called charges against Davis ''offensive'' and said he was a disappointment to the community.

The doctor, who had many letters of support from patients and community members, apologized to the court and said the charges have humiliated him and have affected the two most important things in his life, his career and his family.

''The hardest thing was explaining this to my son,'' Davis said. ''You always hope your children are proud of you. I hope they are some day.''

Davis had pleaded guilty Jan. 27 to the two fifth-degree felonies. Davis had faced a maximum penalty of between six months and 12 months in jail.

The charges followed prosecutors' claim that Davis gave Vicodin in exchange for sexual favors to two female informants posing as patients. Assistant county prosecutor Gina Buccino-Arnaut said Ohio Board of Pharmacy investigators used confidential informants on Aug. 6, 2006, and Jan. 5, 2007, at the offices where Davis has a family practice.

Arnaut said she forwarded Davis' conviction to the Ohio Medical Board. The board hasn't contacted Davis yet concerning any sanctions, according to Davis' attorney John Juhasz.

Agents detailed how they put Davis' office under surveillance, and an affidavit also includes photos of the doctor's office and the Jeep he drove.

An informant used an audio and video camera on at least one occasion, resulting in one of the charges.

One patient in 2004 told agents with the state pharmacy board that a female friend who worked as a barmaid suggested that Davis could prescribe OxyContin for her. The patient admitted to agents she had a secret calling code that allowed her to meet the doctor after hours in his office, where they had sex, drank vodka and orange juice, and she would return the next day to pick up a prescription for 80 or 160 OxyContin.

A licensed doctor of osteopathic medicine, Davis, who lives in Brittany Oaks, has practiced since 1988 and specialized in family practice. He graduated in 1987 from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

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