ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A prosecutor at the Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi's office is being accused of covering up evidence that could help an accused pill mill doctor's case, Channel 9's Karla Ray learned.
9 Investigates first reported earlier this year that an undercover agent, who we're not naming for privacy reasons, busted the Pain and Wellness Clinic in Winter Park. That agent was later fired after the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation learned the agent was in a romantic relationship with one of the women arrested at the Pain and Wellness Clinic.
9 Investigates found court records that claim the prosecutor at the attorney’s general office knew about the relationship between the undercover agent and the woman arrested, but didn’t disclose it to the defense.
“If the court finds this is true, the court may well dismiss this case,” said Bill Sheaffer, WFTV legal analyst.
Roland Brutus was the doctor at the Pain and Wellness Clinic and his defense has filed a motion to throw out the charges against him.
His defense argues prosecutor Nicole Pegues had been aware of the relationship since January 2016 and that she advised the agent to keep it quiet.
The undercover agent said in a deposition, “She told me that it would be okay, don't worry about it, and to keep it to myself.”
Brutus' attorney wrote in the motion that the action or inaction was a “disgrace to the Office of Statewide Prosecution.”
“That's a whole different ballgame. There is a higher obligation on the prosecutor, as an officer of the court, to present evidence favorable to the defense if they know about it,” Sheaffer said.
In recorded depositions with the undercover agent and the woman he had a relationship with, both stated that Pegues had known about the relationship since January.
Pegues denied telling the undercover agent that he should have kept the relationship to himself. Pegues said in the deposition, “I don’t recall those words, but OK.”
“It's rare that you find the defense filing a motion like this against a prosecutor. Most prosecutors know what the rules of evidence are, know what the obligation to disclose evidence is, and follow it pretty closely,” Sheaffer said.
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