HARTFORD >> Before formal charges were brought against Dr. Ljudmil Kljusev, an undercover federal agent entered the psychiatrist's Milford practice and told him, "I heard you were cool."

The agent, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Karwan, walked out of Kljusev's offices with prescriptions for drugs the agent displayed no medical need for during the visit.

 

 

"This is someone who was selling prescription drugs for cash," Karwan said.

Kljusev, 52, of Fairfield, was sentenced to 26 months in federal prison Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Alvin Thompson after a lengthy sentencing hearing in which Kljusev and his counsel argued he had merely been trying to help people.

"I feel guilty now that I know what I should have known then," Kljusev said prior to being sentenced by the court. "This came to me as a shock."

"You have to tailor medications to a patient's needs," he added. "I made a mistake. I should have said no."

In November 2015, Kljusev was accused of prescribing Adderall and Xanax, among other drugs, to people who did not medically require them, according to court documents. In some instances, prescriptions that were legally required to be written by a physician were written by Kljusev's assistant while the doctor was out of town, a court affidavit said.

Karwan said the government had records showing that up to 19 patients had visited Kljusev's office in a single day while he was out of town. Each patient paid $100 for their visit, which Karwan said was proof he was in the business of selling prescriptions for cash.

"Business did not drop off when he was out of the country," Karwan said.

Kljusev left the country regularly to visit his mother and other relatives in Macedonia. Kljusev is the son of Nikola Kljusev, who was the first prime minister of Macedonia.

Kljusev has been denied bail by the court three times since his arrest in November 2015 because of fear that he was a flight risk due to his citizenship status in Canada and Macedonia and assets overseas, according to court documents.

Morad Fakhimi, Kljusev's third lawyer in the case, asked Thompson for leniency in light of Kljusev's family's reputation.

"He will suffer this disgrace and the tarnishing of his father's reputation for the rest of his life," Fakhimi said. "That's a good pounding in itself."

At the opening of the proceedings, Fakhimi also asked the court to consider allowing Kljusev out on bond and to self surrender to the Bureau of Prisons, even offering to co-sign his own name on the bond. Fakhimi later withdrew the request when the sentence was handed down. Kljusev has already served 17 months at Wyatt Detention Center in Rhode Island and will get credit for that time served when the prison sentence formerly begins, Thompson said.

Fakhimi spent much of his argument Tuesday explaining that Kljusev could not be equated with a heroin or cocaine dealer wreaking havoc on the streets.

"What he did was a step across the line between right and wrong, but it was a small step," Fakhimi said.

Because Kljusev surrendered his license to practice medicine in the U.S. in the plea agreement, Fakhimi said the doctor wanted to return to Macedonia after he was released from prison to continue to make a living as a psychiatrist.

Thompson said he could not allow Kljusev to return to Macedonia until his criminal debts were paid.

On Nov. 30, 2016, Kljusev pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled narcotics and one count of health care fraud.

As part of his sentence, Kljusev was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $31,081.05, which will distributed to Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield and Aetna.

In the binding plea agreement, Kljusev forfeited his Milford offices as well as nearly $300,000 found in his offices and business account upon his arrest.

Several patients and family members of Kljusev testified at the hearing Tuesday, telling the court stories of how Kljusev's work had saved their loved ones' lives.

Kljusev's daughter, Alexandra, said she knew her father hoped that she and her brother would join his practice when they finished medical school one day. He cared about his family and all of the patients in his practice, she said, and he would never do anything to hurt people he cared about so much.

"I know he never had any bad intentions," she said.

Resource: http://www.nhregister.com