Physician charged in Brunswick pill mill throws wrench in plea deal

BRUNSWICK | A physician indicted in 2011 on charges of prescribing drugs at a Brunswick "pill mill'' scuttled a plea deal in federal court Thursday but will get another chance.

Chief U.S. District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood refused to accept Bruce I. Tetalman's guilty plea Thursday and set his trial for April 16. His name popped up on Friday's calendar, however, for a second change-of-plea hearing.

Tetalman, 67, was one of three physicians indicted in May 2012 on charges of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances from the Wellness Center of Brunswick off Interstate 95 north of Brunswick. The owner and manager of the pain clinic were also indicted on charges of money laundering conspiracy and money laundering.

Tetalman, who uses a walker and appeared confused during his change-of-plea hearing, nonetheless told Wood that he intended to plead guilty.

When Tetalman seemed reluctant to answer some questions on his willingness to plead guilty, Wood said, "I'm not going to accept it unless it's voluntary."

"No disrespect to the court, I will plead guilty,'' he said.

The hearing went on until Wood asked Tetalman if he had been promised any specific sentence. When he said he had, Wood said she could not accept his guilty plea.

His lawyer, David N. Ghazi, asked for time to speak with Tetalman but afterward told Wood, "Your honor, I don't think he wants to plead guilty."

The government gave Tetalman the chance to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of distributing Pregabalin, a drug used to treat pain. It has a much lower potential for abuse and addiction than painkillers oxycodone and hydrocodone and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax, which the indictment says were dispensed from Brunswick Wellness.

Under the plea agreement, Tetalman's maximum penalty was a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. Were he to go to trial and be convicted on the felony charges in the indictment, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

He recited a long list of ailments when Wood asked, including a heart condition and periods of depression.

Having studied at Northwestern University and the University of Cincinnati and having served a residency at Emory University Hospital, Tetalman expressed some reservations about being tried by a jury.

"The jurors are probably not well educated,'' he said.

Wood said potential jurors would be drawn from a cross section of the Brunswick Division and would likely range from Ph.D.s to people without even a high school diploma.

Brunswick Wellness was in operation from October 2010 until July 14, 2011, when officers from the Glynn/Brunswick Narcotics Enforcement Team and federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided it.

Owner Ronald R. Colandrea Jr. opened the clinic about the same time he closed one in Jacksonville. The local drug task force and DEA began watching it immediately, officials said.

The clinic charged $250 to $350 for initial visits and $200 to $300 for follow-up visits, the indictment says. Out-of-state patients paid more, and the clinic accepted only cash.

Among the out-of-state patients were 640 from South Carolina and about 1,000 from Florida, the indictment said.

The doctors often wrote prescriptions to 30 to 36 patients a day and Cleveland J. Enmon, whose case is pending, once wrote prescriptions for 62 people in a day. Another of the doctors, Dennis S. Momah, pleaded guilty to lesser charges recently and is in prison.

Clinic business manager Natalie A. Anderson pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to launder money from the clinic and is awaiting sentencing.

Terry Dickson: (912) 264-0405