Former Casper Doctor Will Plead Guilty To Drug Charge
A former Casper doctor will plead guilty to one felony count of attempting to possess steroids and in exchange will not be sentenced to prison, according to Natrona County District Court records.
Paul Michael Harnetty is scheduled to change his previous not guilty plea to trying to obtain the synthetic steroid Nandrolone, according to the proposed plea agreement filed Oct. 11.
If the case had gone to trial, which had been delayed twice, and he had been convicted, Harnetty could have faced up to five years of imprisonment and up to a $10,000 fine.
Harnetty is set to enter the plea on Nov. 14 before District Court Judge Thomas Sullins, who is not a party to the agreement and does not have to accept it.
Besides a suspended prison sentence, the agreement requires Harnetty to serve a term of probation, pay court costs, provide a DNA sample, and cooperate with state and federal authorities regarding related cases.
The plea is a "cold plea," meaning the deal is off if he commits a crime or fails to fully cooperate with the presentence investigation and a substance abuse evaluation.
This case is separate from a trial scheduled for January during which Harnetty will be tried on eight counts of second-degree sexual assault and two counts of third-degree sexual assault. If convicted on all these counts he could face between 16 and 190 years of imprisonment.
The drug case started in April 2016 when he attempted to obtain 12 10-milliliter bottles, or 3.6 grams, of Nandrolone, according to court records.
Hanetty had contacted a proprietor of an online business based in Guangdon, China, and ordered the Nandrolone to be sent to his address. On April 18, the U.S. Postal service delivered a package coming from a man in Parker, Colo., to Harnetty at his address.
After that, law enforcement officials executed a search warrant at Harnetty's address, found the box that had contained the Nandrolone, computers, cell phones and other evidence.
Harnetty had worked as an obstetrics/gynecologist at the Wyoming Medical Center.
On Oct. 7, 2016, the Wyoming Board of Medicine accepted his voluntarily relinquishment of his license because of a continuing investigation against him for wrongful practice.
Harnetty remains free on $50,000 personal recognizance bond.