4 life terms for doctor in Ohio pill mill case

FILE - This undated file photo released by the U.S. Marshals Service shows Dr. Paul Volkman, of Chicago. Lawyers for the Chicago doctor convicted of running a pill mill in southern Ohio want off the case, saying the doctor is too unhappy with them to continue. The request raises questions about the sentencing for Volkman on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2012, who faces 20 years in prison for causing the death of four patients who overdosed on pain pills. (AP Photo/U.S. Marshals Service, File)

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio has sentenced an Illinois doctor to four life terms following his conviction in the drug overdose deaths of four patients.

Federal prosecutors say Dr. Paul Volkman dispensed more of the painkiller oxycodone from 2003 to 2005 than any other physician in the country.

U.S. District Court Judge Sandra Beckwith imposed the sentences Tuesday in Cincinnati, along with sentences ranging from 10 to 20 years on 13 other drug-trafficking related counts.

Prosecutors say Volkman made weekly trips from Chicago to three locations in Portsmouth in southern Ohio and one in Chillicothe (chi-li-KAH'-thee) in central Ohio before federal investigators shut down the operations in 2006.

The 64-year-old Volkman maintains his innocence and had demanded the judge release him immediately.

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