NY Psychiatrist William Belfar Guilty, Sentenced; Sold Oxycodone Prescriptions for Cash

June 4, 2019

A Manhattan shrink who shamelessly criticized Lindsay Lohan’s doctor for turning her into a drug addict received a five-year probation sentence Monday for prescribing Oxycodone for cash.

Disgraced psychiatrist William Belfar was all smiles after the lenient sentence was imposed in Manhattan Federal Court. Judge Andrew Carter said he credited Belfar’s cooperation with the government and the psychiatrist’s own mental illness as reasons for mercy.

“When I became a physician I took the Hippocratic oath,” Belfar, 55, said, crying. “I violated that oath.”

Between 2011 and 2013 Belfar sold Oxycodone prescriptions to an FBI informant and two undercover FBI officers, charging up to $1,000 per prescription, prosecutors said.

“It is a very easy way to make money, but it’s an easy way for me to go to jail too," he told an informant.

Carter noted Belfar’s appearance on a 2013 local news broadcast in Tucson, Ariz., in which the shrink lamented the damage Lohan’s family doctor had caused.

“Her drug dealer was her family doctor,” Belfar said. “Is your doctor turning you into a drug addict, like Lindsay Lohan’s doctor did to her?”

The shrink’s attorney, Christopher Conniff, put a positive spin on the hypocrisy.

“The message in the tape is actually a good one,” Conniff said. “He should have, with the benefit of hindsight, corrected his own conduct while telling other people what to do.”

After Belfar was busted in June 2013 he began cooperating with federal prosecutors and “made recordings in connection with potential cases,” Conniff said. The cooperation did not result in any arrests.

In 2018 Belfar was busted again for participating in an illegal telemedicine business in New Jersey and pleaded guilty to health care claims fraud. He is also cooperating with the New Jersey Attorney General, Conniff said.

It wasn’t until last year that Belfar realized he was mentally ill, he said. He recalled that Carter had said he appeared “disorganized and needed to be evaluated.”

“I could not properly evaluate myself,” Belfar said.

“Your honor saved my life ... The legal system is in many ways responsible for getting me the proper diagnosis.”

He now works for a home cleaning service in Westchester and has struggled to maintain steady work or a place to live.

“I basically gave away all my furniture and belongings, except for my dogs,” Belfar said.

“I’ve lost almost everything.”

Source: “Crooked shrink who criticized Lindsay Lohan’s doctor as an enabler is sentenced to 5 years probation for prescribing Oxycodone for cash,” New York Daily News, June 3, 2019. URL: https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-oxycodone-shrink-sentenced-20190603-ekkvwuv3jrb3tblvuwxfkmnjpq-story.html