BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) - A judge has sentenced a Kentucky doctor to 30 months in prison for illegally prescribing controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky says 64-year-old Michael Lee Cummings of Albany was sentenced last week. He also was ordered to pay a $400,000 fine and reimburse the Bureau of Prisons for the costs of his incarceration. He was indicted in 2017 and pleaded guilty this year.

A sentencing memo says federal officials began investigating Cummings after a Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure expert found his treatment of patients to be below minimum standards of care. It says a Clinton County coroner also noticed several overdose deaths involving Cummings‘ patients.

The investigation found Cummings was among doctors writing the most prescriptions for drugs including Oxycodone, hydrocodone and benzodiazepines.

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