Originally published Monday, March 15, 2010 at 9:29 PM

Los Angeles physician convicted of 13 felonies

A Los Angeles physician who investigators call the second "most prolific provider" of prescription drugs in the country has been convicted of 13 felony counts.

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES —

A Los Angeles physician who investigators call the second "most prolific provider" of prescription drugs in the country has been convicted of 13 felony counts.

A Superior Court jury deliberated for two days before convicting 68-year-old Carlos Estiandan of unlawfully prescribing controlled substances Monday.

The Drug Enforcement Administration didn't specify how many prescriptions Estiandan gave out. But it says he was second only to a hospital - Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore - in the total number of prescriptions written in 2008.

Estiandan came to the attention of the DEA in a statewide database that tracks prescriptions issued by physicians.

Authorities say an undercover sheriff's deputy obtained 12 prescriptions from Estiandan without ever being examined, as part of a three-year investigation.

Estiandan faces up to 11 years in state prison.

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