Crime & Safety
11 Years in Prison for Starbucks Doc
This Mission Viejo doctor often prescribed pain pills from Starbucks.
An Orange County physician who prescribed prescription painkillers, often at meetings at Starbucks with patients, including two who later died, was sentenced today to more than 11 years in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Andrew Guilford sentenced Alvin Mingczech Yee, 44, of Mission Viejo, to 135 months in prison, according to Thom Mrozek of the U.S. Attorney's Office.
In April, Yee pleaded guilty to seven counts of illegal distribution of a controlled substance by a practitioner. Yee prescribed drugs such as oxycodone and alprazolam.
Yee was arrested while meeting in a Starbucks with undercover agents he thought were patients.
Prosecutors had recommended 121 months in prison as part of the plea agreement.
Prosecutors said Yee's prescriptions "contributed to the deaths of two of his patients," according to a sentencing memorandum.
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