Nov. 16—A former Decatur oncologist was sentenced this week to two years in prison after pleading guilty to illegally prescribing drugs including oxycodone and hydrocodone, according to federal court records.
Sammy Fuad Becdach, 58, was sentenced by Judge Madeline H. Haikala of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama to 24 months in prison, followed by one year of home confinement. She also ordered him to pay a $100,000 fine.
Becdach lost his medical license in August 2022 “due to unprofessional conduct related to his romantic relationship with a woman for whom he wrote opioid prescriptions and who later died of a drug overdose,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama. who prosecuted the case.
Becdach is a defendant in a pending wrongful death case brought by the estate of the woman, who died in December 2020.
The sentence imposed was not as harsh as requested by prosecutors, who asked for a 37-month prison sentence, three years of supervised release and a $1 million fine.
“This case stems from the defendant’s exploitation of friends and family to obtain drugs that he then gave to women with whom he had sex,” according to a sentencing memorandum from Assistant U.S. Attorney John B. Ward.
According to Ward, Becdach wrote prescriptions for opioids and benzodiazepines to friends and family, who filled the prescriptions and then gave Becdach the pills.
“The defendant acquired these drugs not only to feed his own addiction, but also to supply women with whom he was romantically involved,” Ward wrote. “…The defendant could have obtained drugs by writing illegal prescriptions to himself; instead, he wrote illegal scripts to loved ones, putting them in the spotlight of the scheme while he backed away.”
Becdach’s lawyer, Thomas Spina of Birmingham, asked that the prison sentence be no longer than 18 months.
“There are many reasons why people, especially men, experience a so-called midlife crisis somewhere around age 50,” Spina wrote. “It is clear to the undersigned that this is exactly what happened to Sammy.”
Ward was unimpressed by the midlife crisis argument.
“… Bored male malaise is a poor excuse for serious drug crimes that have affected other lives,” he wrote. “It also ignores the benefits that this defendant enjoyed that many other defendants who appear before this Court do not.
‘The defendant had a successful oncology practice and made millions per year. He didn’t have to sell drugs to pay the rent. He had no shortage of off-ramps from crime.”
According to a letter from Becdach’s daughter to the judge, the former doctor supports her and her brother, who are both students, financially and emotionally.
“Before his arrest, he planned to work as a doctor in his native country, Ecuador, providing free care to patients if they could not afford it,” she wrote.
The judge recommended that the U.S. Bureau of Prisons confine Becdach to Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery and place him in the Residential Drug Abuse Program.
– eric@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2435
