WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A federal appeals court has upheld the convictions of a Kansas doctor and his wife in a moneymaking conspiracy linked to 68 overdose deaths.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday sided with prosecutors in the case of Stephen and Linda Schneider, who ran a pain clinic in Haysville.
The Schneiders were convicted in 2010 of conspiracy, unlawfully prescribing drugs, health care fraud and money laundering. Stephen Schneider was sentenced to 30 years, and his wife to 33 years.
A three-judge panel agreed with the government that the Schneiders waived their right to conflict-free legal representation. New lawyers for the Haysville couple had argued the Schneiders’ trial attorneys were little more than “mouthpieces” for a patient advocate who used the case to promote her own agenda.
