A former Canfield doctor who prosecutors say forced girls between the ages of 12 and 15 to engage in what they describe as commercial sex acts is acting as his own attorney as he asks a judge to throw out his conviction and sentence.

Writing from the Ashland Federal Correctional Institution where he is serving a 22-year sentence, 54-year-old Albert Aiad-Toss typed a motion asking U.S. District Court Judge Pamela Barker to vacate his conviction.

In February of last year, Aiad-Toss pleaded guilty to three counts of sex trafficking a minor under the age of 14, four counts of sex trafficking a minor under the age of 18, and one count of production of child pornography.

In his motion, Aiad Toss claims that his guilty plea was coerced and involuntary, alleging that he received ineffective counsel from his court-appointed attorney.

Aiad-Toss alleges that his attorney withdrew objections to a pre-sentence report without consulting him and told him that he would do nothing for Aiad-Toss if the case went to trial.

Aiad-Toss was first indicted in 2019 by a grand jury in Ashland County, Ohio after investigators said that he had traveled there to have sex with the 12-year-old he allegedly met via a network of young teens.

That indictment was dismissed after Aiad-Toss was indicted federally.

Previously working as an emergency room doctor at St. Elizabeth's hospital in Boardman, Aiad-Toss was employed by an outside company, not Mercy Health directly. He was removed from St. Elizabeth's schedule when the initial allegations came to light.

In late 2019, the Ohio Medical Board indefinitely suspended Aiad-Toss’ license to practice.

Aiad-Toss has also petitioned the nation's high court to consider his case after the Sixth Circuit Court of appeals dismissed his appeal.

The Supreme Court is expected to decide if it will consider Aiad-Toss’s request in September.

Judge Barker has given government prosecutors a month to respond to Aiad-Toss’s request to vacate his conviction.

If Aiad-Toss completes his entire sentence, he won't get out of prison until 2038 when he'll be 70 years old.