Superior Court Justice Andrew M. Horton postponed sentencing for former Boothbay Harbor physician’s assistant Dik Brackett Wednesday saying he wanted to consider a newly revealed health issue that might bear on his decision.
Neither Horton nor defense lawyer David J. VanDyke of Lewiston, or Deputy Attorney General Lisa Bogue revealed the details of the health issue.
Horton set sentencing for 1 p.m. Nov. 23 in Sagadahoc Superior Court in Bath.
In June, a jury convicted Brackett of seven charges including trafficking in prescription drugs, a Class B felony. He was also convicted of engaging a prostitute by trading pills for sex, theft by deception and four counts of violating the privacy of his tenants.
He could receive a maximum of sentence of 15 years, however Bogue said she would not seek the maximum while VanDyke said he would urge the sentence be suspended.
He remains free on $3000 bond.
During an hour-long hearing Wednesday, seven witnesses urged Horton to show mercy for the former operator of a walk-in clinic in Boothbay Harbor.
Bridget Brackett, the defendant’s wife of 45 years, asked for leniency saying the three and a half years since Brackett was arrested in 2006 have been devastating.
“We are a good and decent family and my husband is a good man,” she said. “Please don’t take his freedom away.”
Her sentiments were echoed by her son, Christian Brackett, who said his father had a clean record and had given many people free medical care. “He is a great grandfather and father,” he said.
Rev. Peter Panagore of East Boothbay, the former pastor of the Boothbay Harbor Congregational Church, said Brackett was generous in providing much medical care to the poor of Boothbay Harbor.
“When he was removed, it left a hole in the community,” he said.
He was arrested in July 2006, the day after a search warrant was served on his home, his office and his car, by agents from the Maine Attorney General’s health care crimes unit.
The agents acted on information alleging Brackett was selling narcotics/narcotic prescriptions for sex. A retired Army medic, who during the trial wore a pin indicating he had been awarded the Silver Star, operated a walk-in health clinic in Boothbay Harbor.
After 15 hours of deliberation over three days in June, a jury convicted him of trafficking in controlled prescription drugs, a Class B felony, by selling Vicodin to a patient, Lea Selleck. He was also convicted of engaging a prostitute by trading sex for pills and theft by deception.
Some of the transactions were secretly recorded by law enforcement officers.
In addition, he was convicted of four counts of violating the privacy of his tenants by secreting video cameras inside clock radios placed in their bedrooms and in a bathroom. He told jurors during 7-½ hours on the witness stand that the cameras were installed to catch thieves.
Theft by Deception, a Class C felony, alleges that from July 2, 2005 till June 6, 2006, Brackett obtained more than $1000 from the Maine Care Program by submitting false claims when he did not provide service claimed or that he was not entitled to be reimbursed.
On Sept. 12, 2006, Brackett voluntarily agreed to immediate and permanent revocation of his medical license and agreed he shall never again apply for a physician’s assistant’s license. That information was forwarded to all state medical licensing boards.
