Doctor Pleads Guilty To Trading Drugs For Sex

(STMW) -- A suspended doctor once affiliated with three Chicago hospitals pleaded guilty Friday to a federal charge of distributing prescription drugs in exchange for sex in 2009.

Joshua D. Baron, 40, also admitted to providing about 149 prescriptions -- totaling thousands of doses -- to 16 different people in exchange for sex from 2006 to 2011, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's office.

Baron was originally arrested in January 2011 after an undercover sting by Wilmette police, in which he arrived at a specific location allegedly expecting to trade an Adderall prescription with a fictitious woman in exchange for sex, according to the release. He was federally charged in October 2011 after a broader investigation by the DEA and Chicago police.

Licensed in Illinois in 2006, Baron treated patients at Rush University Medical Center, John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County and St. Anthony's Hospital, according to the release. He has voluntarily surrendered his medical license and his DEA registration in 2011.

Baron admitted to posting at least 78 ads under the "Men Who Would Pay" and "Casual Encounters" sections of Craigslist offering to trade various drugs for sex and/or money, according to the release.

Baron dispensed 1,710 pills of Adderall, 1,830 pills of Norco, 180 pills of Percocet, 1,710 pills of Xanax, 270 pills of Vicodin, 180 pills of Demerol, 90 pills of Diluadid, 120 pills of Focalin, 150 pills of Phentermine, 30 pills of Klonopin and 15 pills of morphine sulfate to 16 people, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

Baron, of Forest Park and formerly of Oak Park, remains free on his own recognizance pending sentencing June 30 by U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer, according to the release.

He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine, the release said. His plea agreement provides for an advisory sentencing guidelines range of 9 to just over 11 years.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)