Benoit's doctor pleads not guilty to drug charges
Last Updated: Monday, June 9, 2008 | 1:50 PM ET
The Associated Press
The personal doctor to late Canadian pro wrestler Chris Benoit has pleaded not guilty to a new 175-count indictment charging him with conspiracy and improperly dispensing drugs.
Dr. Phil Astin did not attend Monday's hearing in U.S. federal court in Atlanta. His lawyer, who entered the plea, said in a statement that Astin is not a criminal.
The May indictment, which involves his dealings with 17 patients, replaced a seven-count indictment handed down last July. Among the drugs listed in the indictment are Oxycontin, Vicodin, Percocet and Demerol.
Astin was the personal physician of Benoit, who strangled his wife and seven-year-old son before hanging himself at the family's home in an Atlanta suburb in June 2007. The doctor's office was raided soon after the murder-suicide, and authorities alleged Astin prescribed an disproportionate amount of anabolic steroids for Benoit on a monthly basis.
Benoit was born in Montreal and grew up in Edmonton. He began his career in 1985, training with wrestling's Hart family in Calgary.
As reported by CBC's The Fifth Estate earlier this year, doctors who have studied Benoit's brain believe the wrestler was suffering from a form of dementia due to numerous concussions suffered in his career.
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