Greeneville doctor confesses to fraud, crack charges

June 03--A Greeneville doctor accused of smoking crack between patient visits faces sentencing after pleading guilty this week to federal charges.

Dr. Robert Locklear pleaded guilty in Greeneville U.S. District Court to conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine and conspiracy to commit health care fraud. U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer set a Sept. 22 sentencing date.

According to the plea agreement, Locklear operated two clinics from the same Greeneville building -- Trinity Internal Medicine and Sleep, and Trinity Recovery Clinic.

In May 2013, Locklear became a target of narcotics officers in Greeneville when a former employee of the sleep clinic told authorities Locklear had been smoking crack "in between patient visits," according to Tennessee Department of Health records.

A few weeks later, Locklear admitted to police he planted cocaine in the ex-employee's laundry hamper in retaliation and had more than $1,500 worth of cocaine in his pocket, the records showed.

He was charged in state court with drug-related charges, and the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners suspended his license to practice medicine.

A federal probe followed and focused on the sleep clinic and the recovery clinic, where opiate-addicted patients were prescribed suboxone, an opioid designed to curb cravings and withdrawal side effects, records showed.

Locklear admitted in the plea agreement he conspired to rip off government-funded health care programs such as Medicare and TennCare from February 2012 to June 2013 by billing the insurance programs for services he said he rendered but instead were carried out by his unlicensed assistants. He also confessed he not only used crack during work hours but gave it to others and "really enjoyed the (expletive)," according to the plea agreement.

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