COLORADO SPRINGS - 49-year-old Peter W.S. Grigg of Colorado Springs, was sentenced Thursday for illegally distributing prescription narcotic drugs.

Grigg was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Blackburn to serve 5 years probation, with the additional sentence of 180 days in home detention, to begin January 1, 2010. Grigg was also ordered to forfeit any and all assets and property, namely $4,755 in cash seized from his briefcase, $12,215 in cash seized from a safe in his home, and a number of valuable coins seized from his briefcase or storage unit. Grigg also agreed to abandon 9 firearms, including two Smith & Wesson handguns, two Glock 40 handguns, and a Marlin Model 81G .22 rifle.

Peter W.S. Grigg was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on January 6, 2009. He pled guilty before Judge Blackburn on August 21, 2009. He was sentenced today, November 19, 2009.

According to the stipulated facts contained in the plea agreement, on four different occasions, Grigg, a licensed medical doctor, met with undercover police officers in a parking lot in Colorado Springs to sell narcotic prescriptions, namely Oxycodone and Fentanyl. There was also one instance when the defendant sold MDMA (commonly known as Ecstasy) pills to the undercover officers. The writing of the prescriptions were not done as a part of Grigg's legitimate medical practice and was not for legitimate medical purposes.

On October 17, 2008, Grigg was paid $100 by undercover officers for writing a prescription for 60 dosage units of Oxycodone 30 mg. On November 6, 2008, Grigg was paid $1,000 for writing a prescription for 150 dosage units of Oxycodone 30 mg. On November 25, 2008, Grigg was paid $1,000 for writing a prescription for 150 dosage units of Oxycodone 30 mg. This prescription was post-dated to December 7, 2008. Also on November 25, 2008, Grigg supplied the undercover officer with sixty dosage units of Oxycodone 10 mg as well as 3 dosage units of Ecstasy. Lastly, on December 5, 2008, Grigg was paid $1,000 for 320 dosage units of Oxycodone 10 mg. On that date the defendant also provided the undercover officer with one Fentanyl transdermal patch and 4 dosage units of Fentanyl 400 microgram tablets.

"No one is above the law, including physicians," said U.S. Attorney David Gaouette. "This type of illegal conduct cannot be tolerated and will continue to be prosecuted by our office."

"The public puts their lives and trust in the hands of doctors and health care professionals every day," DEA Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Sweetin said. "In order to keep the public's trust, doctors must always act responsibly - both in their professional and private lives. It is unfortunate that Dr. Peter Grigg decided to break that trust and now he will pay a significant price for his actions."

This case was investigated by Special Agents and Diversion Investigators with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Grigg was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Phillips.