Jones County doctor gets time served in 2018 pill mill case after plea deal
A Jones County doctor accused of running a pill mill in Gray that led to two deaths struck a plea deal in his long-delayed trial Thursday, according to court documents.
Thomas Sachy had been awaiting trial in federal district court for multiple charges of distribution of controlled substances leading to death, among other crimes, since June of 2018.
After nearly five years of litigation and a withdrawn guilty plea, Sachy will walk away from the accusations with no prison time aside from what he served awaiting trial.
Sachy will have his medical license and DEA registration revoked as a condition of the plea. He will also forfeit $200,000 and six firearms found at his office. Here’s a timeline of Sachy’s legal battle and the conditions of his new plea agreement.
Arrest and accusations
Federal agents raided Sachy’s office and arrested him June 26, 2018 after a federal indictment earlier that month accused him of distributing controlled substances, distributing substances resulting in injury or death, maintaining drug involved premises and money laundering. His mother and multiple employees were also arrested.
Sachy was specifically accused of giving oxycodone and fentanyl to two separate patients who died as a result, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said, one by cardiomyopathy and the other by oxycodone toxicity. He faced up to life in prison for the charges.
A hearing shortly after his arrest revealed that Sachy had saved photos of federal investigators’ grandchildren on his computer in a file titled “Thugs.” Sachy was aware that he was under federal surveillance for some time, attorneys said in the July hearing.
That hearing led to a judge ordering Sachy to await his trial from behind bars instead of out on bond.
“If my picture were on here, I would be scared to death,” Weigle said at the hearing before sending Sachy back to jail, according to Telegraph archives.
Pre-trial litigation and first plea
Thus began Sachy’s long stretch of trial delays, the vast majority of which stemmed from hearings and pre-trial motions, federal court documents show. Sachy changed defense counsel four times total over the course of the legal scuffle that lasted nearly five years, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in one motion.
Many of the filings within the first two years revolved around things like motions to continue the trial and requests for evidence discovery, expected delays for a complex case, but the delay continued to grow as Sachy claimed he was not ready for the trial.
By 2021 the trial was finally set to begin, but Sachy pleaded guilty the day prior in June 2021 to one count of the unlawful dispensation and distribution of lisdexamfetamine, known as Vyvanse, and oxycodone.
Sachy faced up to eight years in prison for the charge and would have to forfeit over $800,000 worth of assets, according to Telegraph archives.
Withdrawing the plea and Supreme Court overruling
Sachy’s plea was not the clean ending to the debacle it was intended to be, however. The plea agreement sat in court for nearly a year as Sachy’s attorneys repeatedly filed motions to extend the sentencing hearing for a variety of reasons, court documents show.
The biggest wrench in the process came in February of 2022 when Sachy filed a motion to withdraw his prior guilty plea, according to court documents. He claimed his lawyers at the time of his plea in June led him to believe he was going to avoid further prison time with the deal.
A federal judge denied the withdrawal request in May 2022 and said that prior precedent showed that Sachy’s plea was lawful, essentially denying him a “do-over,” as Judge Clay D. Land put it in court documents.
Later that summer, though, Sachy’s withdrawal was given new life. The Supreme Court overruled the precedent that denied him another chance and, in August of 2022, he was granted the withdrawal of his guilty plea. His trial was set for January.
2023 plea deal and conditions
Even after the litany of litigation and plea disputes, the trial was delayed further into 2023. The jury selection process began in April before the trial began the first week of May in Macon District Federal Court under Judge Land.
After several days trial, Sachy struck a plea deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and dispense controlled substances Thursday. He will face no additional time in prison in addition to the time he served while awaiting trial.
Sachy, his relatives and some coworkers will be returned money seized from bank accounts valued at nearly $1 million, court documents show. He agreed to forfeit the six guns found in his office when it was raided.
