Former Saugus ER doctor pleads guilty to drug dealing

SALEM – A former emergency room doctor who admitted distributing generic pills similar to Vicodin pills was placed on probation for five years and ordered to comply with the revocation of his medical license.Dr. Julian A. Abbey, 48, formerly of 702 Rockwood Drive, Saugus, changed his plea from not guilty to guilty Wednesday afternoon to a charge of possession of Class C with the intent to distribute before Judge Howard J. Whitehead in Salem Superior Court.The judge placed Abbey on five years of probation with the condition he obtain substance abuse counseling though the physician?s assistant program and consent to random screenings.Abbey, who once practiced emergency medicine at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital, was arrested Oct. 28, 2005 at the UPS customer pickup facility in Lynnfield, where he had picked up a package of 3,000 generic pills similar to Vicodin.Assistant District Attorney?s John B. Brennan and Andrew H. Zeiberg said it was just one of many shipments Abbey had ordered that year.Trooper James Bruce learned of the shipments through a tip and sought a warrant for the package addressed to Abbey?s Rockwood Drive address in Saugus. Police went to the UPS facility in Lynnfield and found six bottles containing a total of 3,000 pills.A trooper posing as an employee called Abbey and said he had the package. Abbey told him they were vitamins. When Abbey picked up the package he was arrested.Brennan said that Abbey had purchased thousands of hydrocodone pills, similar to Vicodin, in 2005 from a New Britain, Conn., drug company.Brennan asked that Abbey be sentenced to prison for five years saying he “morally and ethically” defied the public trust and most importantly it was against the law and he should be held accountable.Defense lawyer Virginia Lawton pleaded for leniency, telling Whitehead that her client had a substance abuse problem.Whitehead acknowledged that authorities could not identify individuals getting pills from Abbey and he imposed the probationary term for Abbey.Abbey, whose last known address is 11 True St., in Everett, was indicted by an Essex County grand jury in April of 2006 and has been free on $5,000 cash bail since being arraigned.His license to practice medicine has been revoked by the medical board.