United States v. Roger Lee Palmer

Dr. Roger Lee Palmer was convicted of obtaining cocaine by misrepresentation in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 843 (a)(3). Palmer has a small dental practice in the rural town of Lakeport, California, population 4,100. As a practicing dentist, he was registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration [DEA] to purchase Schedule II narcotic controlled substances, including cocaine.

At the trial, the government produced evidence that between January 1977 and April 1980 Palmer purchased such large quantities of cocaine, ostensibly for use in his practice, as to evoke the suspicion that he was diverting large amounts of it to non-dental uses. A DEA investigator who searched Palmer’s patient records pursuant to a warrant found only six references to cocaine use in the course of patient treatment.

The government called Dr. Michael Bar-kin, an eminent San Francisco dentist and professor, who calculated that to use 10 ounces of cocaine at its toxic limit, a dentist would have to see 1,500 patients; using it at its common dosage, a dentist would have to make 30,000 patient applications.

Peter J. Cecchin testified that he met Dr. Palmer in 1978 and that he and Palmer used cocaine in the…