Miami doctor pleads guilty to manslaughter
December 31, 2009
Last week, a Miami psychologist entered a guilty plea to the charges of manslaughter and trafficking in oxycodone. The criminal information alleges that Adam Feder failed to call 911 after his girlfriend overdosed on his private stash of oxycodone in his residence. With the assistance of his
Miami criminal defense lawyer, Feder entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to six years in state prison followed by four years of reporting probation. The victim was an alleged former patient who had initially come to see him about grief counseling. She originally sought counseling because her high school boyfriend was involved in a traffic accident that left him in a coma. The 38 year old doctor befriended the 18 year-old when they became involved in a sexual affair.
Manslaughter carries a maximum tern or imprisonment of 15 years while trafficking in oxycodone carries a maximum term of 30 years in prison. With the addition of victim injury points attributable to the death of the victim, Feder was facing maximum of 135 years in prison. While a six year prison sentence is a victory for the Miami criminal attorney and his client, Feder is still subject to 135 years in prison if he is ever alleged to have committed a probation violation. If an individual is placed on probation and is charged by affidavit with a substantive
probation violation, he or she faces the maximum prison sentence being faced at the time of the plea.
Feder was charged with trafficking in oxycodone. Oxycodone trafficking charges carry minimum mandatory prison sentences depending on the amount of the controlled substance. Possession in excess of 25 grams of oxycodone subjects defendants to a 25 year minimum mandatory sentence. The charge carries the same sentence as heroin trafficking due the addictive nature of the drug. Oxycodone is legal if it is properly prescribed by a physician. Most people think that trafficking in controlled substances requires that the drugs be transferred for the purpose of sale to another. However, Florida is clear that mere possession of a controlled substance, as long as it exceeds a certain weight, will still constitute trafficking. Sometimes one gram is the difference in being charged with possession or trafficking. If you are charged with this type of charge, it is imperative to retain an experienced
Miami oxycodone trafficking defense lawyer to defend your case.
A person can be charged with
murder in the first degree under Florida law if a death results from the unlawful distribution of certain controlled substances.
Cocaine, heroin and oxycodone are examples of controlled substances that if distributed and cause the death of another can result in a first degree murder charge. The Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office could have conceivably charged Feder with murder as he prescribed the oxycodone for his own personal use an kept it at his residence. However, investigators believe that the victim took the controlled substance to commit suicide. The lack of evidence that Feder provided the oxycodone to the victim probably led to the prosecutor's decision to charge manslaughter.
Psychologist Pleads Guilty in Lover/Ex-patient's Death, The Miami Herald, December 23, 2009.
