MAHONING COUNTY Judge drops drug charges against doctor

An assistant prosecutor said he would not appeal the decision or refile charges.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A judge in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court has dismissed 28 drug trafficking counts against a 76-year-old doctor.
Judge John M. Durkin said Tuesday that prosecutors erred when filing an indictment against Dr. Skevos M. Zervos of Vienna.
Dr. Zervos smiled as he left the courtroom with supporters.
He had been accused in 2000 of illegally selling a variety of prescription painkillers and diet drugs including Demerol, Percocet, Tenuate, Ionamin, Fastin, Adipex and Dexedrine.
Defective indictment
"I applaud the efforts of the Mahoning County Drug Task Force and prosecutors in prosecuting matters such as this," Judge Durkin said, as he ruled that an indictment filed against Dr. Zervos was defective because it did not specify that the physician was acting outside his role as a health-care professional when he administered drugs.
Defense lawyer J. Gerald Ingram filed a motion to dismiss the case Monday, a day before a trial was scheduled to begin.
He argued that the indictment was "constitutionally defective."
"The indictment makes no mention of the defendant's professional standing as a physician and does not factually assert that the defendant failed to meet minimum professional standards in dispensing or prescribing controlled substances," the motion says.
Burden of proof
Without that specification, the burden of proof would improperly be shifted from the state to the physician, Judge Durkin ruled.
The burden of proof must be on the state to show that Dr. Zervos was acting illegally outside his health-care role, the judge said, and not on the doctor to show that he was acting properly within that role.
Assistant Prosecutor Rob Duffrin questioned the ruling, saying that it means the state would have to prove that every defendant accused of drug trafficking is not a health-care provider.
Letting it stand
He said he would not appeal the ruling or refile charges, adding that he doubts a judge would send a 76-year-old man to prison in this case.
"I'm not going to spend any more of the state's resources," he said. "The judge made the ruling. He's a good judge."
Dr. Zervos' 6640 Market St. office was raided in June 1999, and a Mahoning County grand jury handed up the indictment in November 2000.
In 1980, the Ohio State Medical Board had placed Dr. Zervos on a two-year probation for improperly prescribing drugs.
viviano@vindy.com