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Sean D. Reyes
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Utah Doctor Pleads Guilty, Surrenders Professional Licenses

Utah Doctor Pleads Guilty, Surrenders Professional Licenses for Attempted
Witness Tampering & Illegal Distribution of a Controlled Substance

SALT LAKE CITY Oct. 19, 2015 – The Utah Attorney General’s office today announced the criminal conviction of Dr. Stanley Clark Newhall, of Sandy, Utah, who is licensed as both a physician and attorney. Newhall has pleaded guilty to two Class A misdemeanors of Attempted Tampering with a Witness and Attempted Illegal Distribution of a Controlled Substance. In a negotiated plea accepted by the Honorable Paul B. Parker, Newhall has also agreed to immediately surrender his Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registrations in all states. All medical professionals who prescribe any controlled substance are required to be registered with the DEA. In addition, Newhall has resigned his admission to the Utah State Bar and will no longer be practicing law.

“Licensed professionals in the state of Utah will be held to the highest standards of their professions – or they will forfeit their ability to practice,” said Attorney General Sean Reyes. “Utah’s medical patients and legal clients will not be subject to the type of illegal, highly unprofessional and inappropriate conduct of this practitioner.”

Newhall had been a physician licensed in Utah and several other states for over 30 years. In June 2014, following an investigation by the Division of Professional Licensing of the Utah Department of Commerce, Newhall stipulated to relinquish his state medical license in Utah, but continued to practice medicine in other states including Alabama, Michigan and Minnesota. As part of this resolution agreement with the Attorney General’s office, Newhall will surrender to the DEA his future authority to prescribe controlled substances in any state. As a licensed attorney in Utah since 1995, his resignation from the Bar will also be effective immediately.

Newhall’s case involved the issuance of numerous controlled substance prescriptions to persons who were not patients or with whom he did not perform adequate examinations prior to issuance of the prescriptions. Upon learning of the DEA investigation, Newhall also attempted to induce at least one witness not to cooperate with the DEA investigation, unaware that that person had already disclosed Newhall’s conduct to the investigators and who in turn recorded conversation between Newhall and the witness.

The resolution of this case was the result of combined efforts by Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing (DOPL) investigators, DEA investigators, and prosecutors from the Office of the Utah Attorney General in the DEA’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) unit.

“We appropriately grant a tremendous amount of trust to healthcare and legal professionals and the vast majority are dedicated community servants,” added Reyes. “But a few blatantly violate their Hippocratic Oath – and we are serious about ensuring they do no more harm to Utah citizens.”

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