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A former Greensburg doctor accused in a sex-for-drugs scheme involving a teen girl will spend 6- 1⁄2 years in federal prison, a judge ruled Tuesday.
U.S. Judge Arthur J. Schwab sentenced Robert R. Franzino, 61, to prison and imposed an additional three years of probation on one count of attempted possession of obscene visual depictions, Acting U.S. Attorney Soo C. Song said in a statement.
Franzino pleaded guilty in November. Under terms of a plea agreement, he will have to register as a convicted sex offender in any state he lives once he is released.
A grand jury initially indicted Franzino on one count of attempting to entice the 15-year-old girl into illegal sexual activity, which carries a sentence of 10 years to life in prison. Defense attorney Stanton Levenson said Franzino agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge in November to avoid a potentially longer sentence.
Greensburg police arrested Franzino on March 13 in front of the victim's home, according to court documents. The girl's father had notified police of Franzino's contact with his daughter and Lt. Robert Jones set up a sting operation using the girl's cellphone.
Franzino used social media to offer the girl “mind-altering pills” and cash for sex and asked for sexually explicit photos between Sept. 9, 2015, and March 13.
The FBI also was involved in the investigation, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
A former emergency room physician at Excela Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg, Franzino pleaded guilty in 2002 to insurance fraud and violating state drug laws after he was charged with prescribing painkillers to four women in the hopes of having sex when he worked as a physician at the hospital in 1999, according to court records.
He was sentenced to 10 years of probation and prohibited from practicing medicine in Pennsylvania until December 2005. Records show the state board of medicine revoked his license in November 2005.
State records indicate that Franzino never attempted to reactivate his medical license. Since his license revocation, he has worked as a consultant in medical malpractice cases, authorities said.
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