United States v. Harold Spear, III

MEMORANDUM

Harold Spear appeals his conviction by guilty plea to five counts of knowingly and intentionally distributing controlled substances outside the usual course of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

1. There was no plain error in the change of plea colloquy. Spear admitted dispensing controlled substances outside the usual course of professional medical practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose. That is sufficient to establish illegal distribution. See United States v. Black, 512 F.2d 864 , 866 & n. 2, 868 (9th Cir.1975).

2. There was a sufficient factual basis to support Spear’s guilty plea. See United States v. Neel, 547 F.2d 95, 96 (9th Cir.1976) (per curiam). Spear admitted that he prescribed controlled substances without conducting a face-to-face visit or obtaining any objective data supporting the prescription, and that he signed prescriptions in blank. When his staff issued a prescription using these blank forms, the patient was charged between $60 and $100 in cash or credit card payments. Because “[cjulpable intent ... can be inferred from the defendant’s conduct and…