Logan County Doctor Convicted For Unlawfully Prescribing Pills
Thursday, February 13, 2025, 9:45 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
CHARLESTON, W.VA.- A 60-year-old Chapmanville physician is facing up to 50 years in federal prison after being found guilty last Friday by a Federal Jury for the Southern District of West Virginia on multiple counts of unlawfully distributing controlled substances.
On Friday, February 7, 2025, following a four-day trial, a federal jury found Brian McDevitt, 61, of Chapmanville, West Virginia, guilty of four counts of Distribution of Controlled Substances and also found that McDevitt must forfeit his West Virginia medical license and the Chapmanville Medical Clinic, which he operated.
According To The U.S. Attorney’s Office
According to U.S. Attorney Will Thompson, the evidence presented at trial proved beyond a reasonable doubt that McDevitt provided controlled substances outside the scope of professional standards and not for a legitimate medical purpose when he wrote prescriptions for hydrocodone on May 17, 2022, and March 29, 2024, and alprazolam on May 18, 2022, and March 29, 2024.
Following the jury returning their findings of guilt, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas E. Johnston, who presided over the trial, accepted the jury’s verdict and scheduled sentencing for May 25, 2025. At that time, McDevitt faces up to 50 years in federal prison.
McDevitt Has Criminal History
McDevitt has a criminal history, including his guilty plea on January 20, 2010, to conspiracy to use a DEA registration number in violation of federal law and to engage in monetary transactions in gaining property from unlawful activity. During his plea allocution in 2010, McDevitt admitted that he allowed others to use his federal registration DEA number to distribute the prescription drug phentermine and then converted the cash received from the conspiracy for his personal benefit.
On June 29, 2010, McDevitt was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and fined $60,000 for these prior convictions.
“Dr. McDevitt was one of the original drug dealers in a lab coat and did not learn his lesson from his prior convictions and prison sentence,” said U.S. Attorney Will Thompson. “Instead, he chose to continue violating his ethical duties and responsibilities as a physician to enrich himself at the expense of vulnerable West Virginians.”
