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Drug dealing doc gets 87 months

In March, Laurence T. McKinney, 54, of Philadelphia was convicted in a jury trial of illegally prescribing painkillers and sedatives from his Frankford Avenue offices in Philadelphia’s Mayfair section. On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Michael M. Baylson, saying McKinney had acted out of greed, sentenced the doctor to 87 month in prison. In addition McKinney was given three years of supervised release after he leaves prison and his medical license was suspended for 10 years.

In March, Laurence T. McKinney, 54, of Philadelphia was convicted in a jury trial of illegally prescribing painkillers and sedatives from his Frankford Avenue offices in Philadelphia's Mayfair section.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Michael M. Baylson, saying McKinney had acted out of greed, sentenced the doctor to 87 month in prison. In addition McKinney was given three years of supervised release after he leaves prison and his medical license was suspended for 10 years.

The jury convicted McKinney on 30 counts, including for illegally prescribing the painkiller Percocet and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax. Both drugs have high street value and are often abused. For a $100 fee, "patients" at McKinney's medical clinic could get prescriptions for controlled drugs.

In February 2008, city inspectors shut down the clinic using the city's public-nuisance laws. At the time the doctor was under federal investigation for running a "pill mill" out of McKinney Medical Center at 7514 Frankford Avenue.

On Thursday, an online check of McKinney's Pennsylvania medical license indicated that it was still active, but that disiplinary or corrective action had been taken against him.

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