A Cave City dentist and former Barren County magistrate was in federal court in Bowling Green on Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Greg Stivers agreed to allow Chris Steward to undergo a mental competency exam before he is sentenced. That evaluation will be done in the next 60 days. Alan Simpson of Bowling Green, one of the attorneys representing Steward, declined to say if he has a mental illness.
"Dr. Steward's been through a lot in his lifetime, the most of which, since he began being prosecuted, he's been going through, an acrimonious would be a nice way of putting it, divorce," Simpson stated.
Steward entered a guilty plea in May to multiple federal charges , including prescribing controlled substances outside the course of a professional medical practice. Prosecutors say he conspired with patients to obtain pain and anti-anxiety drugs. The scheme involved Steward writing prescriptions in patients’ names and instructing the patients to fill the prescriptions, which would them be given to him.
Steward faces up to 30 months in prison. He is due back in court in November.
