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MSNBC/APNEWNAN, Ga. - The personal doctor to a professional wrestler who killed himself, his wife and their 7-year-old son was sentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday for illegally prescribing painkillers and other drugs to patients.
Dr. Phil Astin, 54, had pleaded guilty Jan. 29 to a 175-count federal indictment that accused him of writing illegal prescriptions to known drug abusers, some of them for years. Prosecutors said at least two of Astin’s patients died of drug overdose — a fact the judge said he could not overlook in handing down the sentence.
“I take full responsibility,” Astin told U.S. District Judge Jack Camp during a sentencing hearing that lasted more than two hours. “I am sorry I hurt so many lives. I was thinking that I was looking after my patients.”
Prosecutors said Chris Benoit, a wrestler for Stamford, Conn.-based World Wrestling Entertainment, and his wife, Nancy, were not the two patients who died.
The 19 patients in the indictment are identified only by their initials because of privacy rules. C.B. and N.B. were among the patients listed, but Assistant U.S. Attorney John Horn would not say whether that referred to the Benoits. Both abused prescription drugs, Horn said.
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http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/30705257/
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