Dr. Christopher Castle, the Seymour physician charged with over 500 counts of illegally prescribing and distributing controlled substances, was released by federal judge Thomas Phillips into a halfway house last Thursday morning, August 15th, during his detention hearing in the Knox county federal courts system.
The decision was settled in an out of court conference between the judge and two attorneys: Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Bolen and Castle’s attorney, Wade Davies. The judge’s decision took immediate effect, and Castle was released that day. Castle was severely warned by the judge to maintain good behavior and avoid future criminal acts. He will remain in the halfway house until his scheduled trial date set for June 1st of next year.
Castle’s troubles started this year in March 14, 2002. The DEA suspended his authority to prescribe controlled substance drugs after extensive investigations revealed Castle and several of his “patients” were involved in a conspiracy to distribute and illegally sell several various controlled substances that Castle would prescribe.
The drugs of choice were OxyContin ®, MS Contin ®, Adderall ®, Percocet, and Hydrocodone. Most of the drugs are clinically used for severe pain management and can be highly addictive. When abused, they can produce effects of heroin-like highs. On the streets, some of these drugs can sell up to $30 and $40 per tablet.
According to the charges filed against him, from as early as June 1998, Castle would falsely prescribe these controlled substance drugs to collaborators who stood in as patients. Many of Castle’s co-conspirators were once legitimate patients of Castle who eventually befriended the doctor and later are alleged of joining in on his illegal escapade. It was stated in court documents that Castle would charge his “patients” between $20 and $100 per prescription.
In February 2001, after a series of surveillance watches and search warrants, authorities unveiled Castle’s ploy. He was arrested and charged with 516 counts involving conspiracy to and the practice of illegally dispensing and distributing controlled substances. He was also investigated for fraudulent health care practices.
If that were not enough, last November, Castle was indicted on two counts of child pornography possession. Castle pled not guilty to the charge then later entered a plea of insanity. After a court-appointed psychological evaluation, Castle was deemed competent to stand trial. Castle’s attorneys backed the evaluation. Prosecutors had planned to proceed with the child pornography case, but in order to pursue the conspiracy case they had to drop the pornography charges.

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