A federal appeals court has upheld the life sentence of a doctor who had a practice in Boardman.
The sixth circuit court rejected the appeal of former anesthesiologist Dr. Jorge Martinez.
In 2006, Martinez was sentenced to life in prison for conviction on 58 charges, including health care fraud that resulted in the deaths of two patients.
The government argued that he engaged in fraud by ignoring signs of painkiller addiction and neglecting physical examinations in order to bill insurance companies for pain management procedures from about January 1998 to September 2004.
They argued that this practice left patients dependent on pain medication they could only get from him.
This was also determined to be neglectful of patients' needs, resulting in two deaths.
Martinez argued, among other things, that the court did not take into account his years of service to patients.
The court ruled that the sentence was arrived at using established guidelines and was reasonable.