"MUST READ" and "MUST SHARE" OHIO VETERINARIAN CONVICTED OF RUNNING A PRESCRIPTION DRUG TRAFFICKING RING OUT OF HIS ANIMAL HOSPITAL! THIS IS WHY ANIMAL HOSPITALS IN OHIO NEED TO BE RANDOMLY INSPECTED, BUT ARE NOT! Ohio, YOUR ANIMAL HOSPITALS are not randomly inspected by the state of Ohio that issues veterinary and vet tech licenses. That means there is no one checking on the record-keeping, the working equipment, the hygiene, or the drugs. "After 13 years sober, Dr. Michael E. Smith's (Zanesville, Ohio) addiction flared again, he said in court, driven in part by his father's death. And to pay for it, the former veterinarian admittedly wrote prescriptions illegally." "He used the money to fund his own drug habit, all seemingly to self-medicate his depression and anxiety. His voice quavered as he struggled to tell the court how his life had deteriorated since his arrest. Months later, the 53-year-old and his wife have filed for bankruptcy, and he lost his business." "'I confess my sins to God and the court and ask for guidance and help instead of incarceration,' Smith read from a prepared statement before Judge Kelly Cottrill. 'I stand before you humbled and remorseful and repentant.'" "But Cottrill was unswayed by the plea, and he reminded Smith that his status meant 'you're the gatekeeper' to abusable drugs that he allowed onto the streets. For that, Smith will serve two years in prison, Cottrill ruled." "He must also voluntarily surrender his DEA registration and no longer write prescriptions." "Smith's family and friends packed the courtroom for his sentencing hearing Monday, and Cottrill acknowledged that many of them wrote letters in support of the former veterinarian. Many wept openly throughout the hearing." "'You're beloved by many, many people,' Cottrill told him." "Smith, 100 Sally Road, was arrested in February after a state, city and county investigation uncovered an inordinate amount of prescriptions for a certain pain reliever, guns and other records." "Smith was indicted on 37 counts related to the investigation. The state dropped the majority of those charges in exchange for his guilty plea." "He pleaded to 10 counts of illegal processing of drug documents, a fourth-degree felony, and one weapons charge, a third-degree felony. Judge Cottrill sentenced him to 17 months on each illegal processing charge and 24 months in prison on the gun charge." "Those will all run concurrently. He was credited with 159 days of jail." "The remaining charges were dismissed, including 15 counts of trafficking in drugs, hydromorphone (Dilaudid), second-degree felonies; one count of trafficking in drugs, hydromorphone (Dilaudid), a third-degree felony; another nine counts of illegal processing of drug documents, fourth-degree felonies; and an additional weapons charge, a third-degree felony." "Hydromorphone is an opioid derived from morphine. Authorities opened the investigation after the number of Smith’s Dilaudid prescriptions raised red flags with the Ohio Board of Pharmacy, the Times Recorder previously reported."