More criminal charges filed in pain doctor case

MUNCIE – Delaware County's efforts to seize a pain doctor's assets under racketeering laws will wait until the resolution of newer criminal racketeering charges filed against the doctor.

In February, Muncie attorney Dan Gibson, working on behalf of Delaware County Prosecutor Jeffrey Arnold, filed a civil lawsuit seeking the assets of physician William Hedrick, whose northside Muncie office was raided by state, local and federal authorities on Oct. 20.

Authorities maintain Hedrick and his associates improperly prescribed drugs that led to the deaths of eight patients. Hedrick already faced criminal charges.

The prosecutor's office has since filed the criminal equivalent of the racketeering charges, with multiple charges filed in two separate Delaware Circuit Court 3 cases.

"From day one, we knew that we were going to be looking at those charges," Deputy Prosecutor Zach Craig, who is handling the criminal cases against Hedrick, told The Star Press on Monday. "It was just a matter of getting through all the information from the raid."

The resolution of the civil racketeering lawsuit will wait for the time being, Craig said.

"By agreement with his attorney and Dan Gibson, those cases will be stayed pending the outcome of the criminal case, until that is resolved," Craig said.

Hedrick already faces eight felony charges filed in January and pending action against his medical license at the state level that is also on hold awaiting resolution of the criminal cases.

RICO — short for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization — action is an effort to allow law enforcement to seize money and property used in crimes.

The criminal RICO charges were filed in late February, after the civil RICO case was filed. Various cases involving Hedrick had seen court dates set. After Craig filed the criminal RICO counts, Hedrick's attorney and Craig agreed that the cases should be maintained in conjunction with each other on the Delaware Circuit Court 3 calendar.

A recent entry on the court calendar indicated that a June 3 jury trial had been set.

Hedrick's attorney has not responded to contacts from The Star Press seeking comment.

Contact Keith Roysdon at 765-213-5828 and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.