Prosecutors: 'Buyer's remorse' not a reason for Kraynak to withdraw guilty plea

Feb. 17—WILLIAMSPORT — Federal prosecutors argued that a federal judge's decision to prohibit former Dr. Raymond Kraynak from withdrawing his guilty plea should be upheld.

The documents were filed on Feb. 8 by Assistant U.S. Attorney William Behe in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Kraynak is fighting a 15-year federal prison sentence in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

"The district court correctly concluded that Kraynak failed to provide a fair and just reason to withdraw his guilty plea," the attorney argued in court documents. "Buyer's remorse or regret are not valid reasons to withdraw one's guilty plea as long as the decision to plead guilty was knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently entered."

A defendant's change of mind or heart due to fear of punishment "is not sufficient reason to impose upon the government the difficulty, risk and expense of unwinding a guilty plea, and to burden the witnesses and victims with the mental and emotional strain of trying a defendant who has already acknowledged his guilt by pleading guilty," the attorney argued.

U.S. Judge Matthew Brann on Aug. 3, after a 10-hour hearing, denied Kraynak's original appeal to withdraw a guilty plea and sentenced the former Mount Carmel doctor to 15 years in federal prison.

Kraynak unexpectedly pleaded guilty in September 2021 after 10 days of trial. The plea came the morning the defense was set to begin its case. As part of the plea deal, Kraynak was likely to face a maximum of 15 years in prison, a fine and probation to be determined, potential restitution to the victims and additional court fees and costs.

Kraynak attempted to withdraw a guilty plea to 12 felony counts of illegal distribution or dispensing of prescription drugs.

Behe wrote in the most recent document that the district court "correctly found Kraynak's claims of innocence were thoroughly refuted by the record of the trial and the testimony presented at the hearing to withdraw his guilty plea, as well as Kraynak's sworn responses to the court when he entered his guilty plea. Resolution of the motions to withdraw was essentially governed by the credibility of the witnesses since the parties agreed on the controlling law. The district court found prior counsel credible and their explanation for their decisions and advice to Kraynak to be reasonable."

The court also "correctly concluded that the withdrawal of Kraynak's guilty plea would cause prejudice to the government," Behe wrote. "The case was tried from the beginning to end by the government over three weeks and would be time-consuming and expensive to retry. Most important, allowing the plea to be withdrawn would have required victims of drug addiction and sexual abuse at the hands of Kraynak to have to relive their horror by testifying yet again in open court."

Federal agents arrested Kraynak on Dec. 21, 2017. The indictment stated Kraynak allegedly prescribed more than six million opioids, such as Oxycontin, Vicodin and fentanyl, between May 2012 and July 2017, and was responsible for the deaths of five patients.

After pleading guilty, the remainder of the charges — five felony counts of illegal distribution or dispensing resulting in death and two felony counts of maintaining drug-involved premises for his offices in Mount Carmel and Shamokin — were dropped.