Wyoming County Court
Nunda sports medic gets second drug sentence in Warsaw
A physician’s assistant sentenced earlier this week in Orleans County for his role in a prescription drug-selling ring received a second sentence to one year in jail Thursday in Wyoming County Court.
Charles Livingston, 56, of Nunda, pleaded guilty earlier this year to criminal sale of a prescription for a controlled substance.
Judge Mark Dadd arranged for the sentence to be served concurrently with a six-month sentence Livingston received in Orleans County Court Monday.
Livingston, who operated Southern Tier Orthopedics and Sports Medicine in Geneseo and Warsaw, was arrested in late March 2010 after a far-reaching investigation by police agencies from Orleans and surrounding counties.
He was accused of stealing more than $500,000 worth of prescription sheets from doctors, including several at Wyoming County Community Hospital.
Livingston distributed the sheets to acquaintances, including a professional football player with the Rochester Raiders. Livingston was medical director for the team.
The acquaintances would then forge the prescriptions and sell drugs in communities throughout the region.
Livingston did not profit from the sales and investigators never found a real motive for Livingston’s action.
In court Monday, Livingston said he feared for the safety of his family, hinting that the football player, Jason Coley, had threatened him if he didn’t provide the prescriptions. It was never established that Coley had threatened Livingston.
Livingston was arrested in Warsaw and charged with grand larceny and criminal sale of a prescription. The larceny charge was dropped as part of a plea deal.
Livingston will serve his sentence first in Orleans and then the remaining six months in Wyoming.
