An Aurora Doctor Arrested In July

[bobandtorey]

AURORA | An Aurora doctor arrested in July after police say he doled out bogus medical marijuana recommendations is set to appear in court next week.

 

According to court records, Manuel Aquino-Villaman is set to appear in Arapahoe County District Count on Dec. 13 for a disposition hearing.

 

if(typeof oTNCMS_Ad.setRelative == 'function'){ oTNCMS_Ad.setRelative(); }oTNCMS_Ad.show();The hearing will be the first since September for Aquino-Villaman, who is free on bond.According to an arrest affidavit filed against Aquino-Villaman, two separate Aurora police officers went to Aquino-Villaman’s office undercover to obtain medical marijuana recommendations, the first in February and the second in April.

 

In the first visit, the officer told Aquino-Villaman he was in a motorcycle accident 10 years ago and had two metal plates inserted in his head because of injuries from the crash.

 

The officer said he never told the doctor he was in pain because of the crash.

 

In the second case, an officer told Aquino-Villaman that he had been run over by a tractor and sustained abdominal and facial injuries.

 

Again, the officer didn’t say he was in pain because of the crash, but he did say he had ringing in his ears.

 

Aquino-Villaman wrote medical marijuana recommendations for both officers, citing pain as the reason.

 

Neither officer received marijuana at Aquino-Villaman’s clinic, though the first officer tried to.

 

Both officers recorded the doctor’s visits on hidden microphones and the first paid $125 for the consultation. It wasn’t clear from the affidavit if the second officer paid.

 

Aquino-Villaman’s lawyer has said the doctor acted appropriately when he recommended medical marijuana for the two officers and that, based on what the officers told the doctor, they should have qualified for medical marijuana.

 

Aquino-Villaman made his first court appearance last summer, at which a judge granted his request to leave the state while he is free on $6,000 bond.

 

In July, police arrested Aquino-Villaman on two charges: conspiracy to contribute marijuana and attempting to influence a public servant, both felonies.

 

When prosecutors got the case, they didn’t initially pursue the distribution charge, instead charging Aquino-Villaman with attempting to influence a public servant, namely the director of the state’s medical marijuana registry, and with forgery, alleging he falsified the medical marijuana recommendation.

 

Prosecutors later changed course and filed a conspiracy to distribute marijuana charge against Aquino-Villaman, arguing that while no marijuana changed hands, Aquino-Villaman caused the drug to be distributed.

 

http://www.aurorasentinel.com/hp_metro/article_2ff77e8a-0313-11e0-a39f-001cc4c03286.html