MACON, Ga. — After more than a year in jail, a Gray doctor accused of illegally prescribing opioids and other drugs to patients is headed home for the holidays.
A federal judge on Wednesday granted $10,000 bond for Thomas Sachy, and the Butts County jail says he was released later that day.
In June 2018, a federal grand jury indicted Sachy and three employees on drug and money-laundering charges. Prosecutors say Sachy wrote illegal prescriptions that killed at least two people.
ORIGINAL STORY: Gray doctor, three staff members face federal drug charges
On Wednesday, according to court records, magistrate Charles Weigle approved an order setting conditions for his release after a 15-minute hearing.
Prosecutor Shanelle Booker told the judge that both sides had agreed on conditions for Sachy's release.
He'll be under home detention -- which means he'll have to stay home except for work, worship, court appearances, medical treatment or other approved trips.
He cannot contact victims or potential witnesses in the case, or law enforcement officers and their families.
He can't have a gun, use alcohol or narcotics, and he must undergo drug testing.
Sachy also can't practice medicine while awaiting trial.
His lawyer, Charles Cox, told the judge that Sachy will live with his mother and girlfriend Evelyne Ennis -- two of his co-defendants.
Cox also said Sachy needs to use his computer and the internet to research his case and contact his lawyers.
Last year, Weigle ordered Sachy jailed until trial after prosecutors said the doctor searched out personal photos of the federal agents investigating him, their homes and families.
But his lawyers argued that Sachy never intended to threaten or harm the agents. He just wanted to "look at the people who were looking at him."
Since then, Sachy has asked the judge several times to release him.
Earlier this year, his lawyers said Sachy had lost 40 pounds in the Butts County jail due to the poor food. They said he was being treated unfairly in jail and unable to meet with his lawyers.
Weigle denied their request.
On Monday, his lawyers filed a sealed motion, asking Weigle again to release the doctor.
Before his arrest, Sachy wrote often to defend opioid medications and the doctors who prescribe them. He argued that the media sensationalized the issue and demonized doctors and patients who use opioids.
In one blog post, Sachy wrote, "One thing I am certain of is that these medications can be widely effective for treating all forms of pain... If you are an industrialized and thus supposedly civilized nation, you are going to treat pain aggressively – with opioids."
Trial for the four is scheduled for February 2020 at the U.S. District Court in Macon.
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