Spokane dentist pleads guilty in federal court to improperly prescribing painkillers

A Spokane dentist has pleaded guilty in federal court to manipulating pain-killer prescriptions and distributing drugs to a former patient with whom he was having “inappropriate relationship” for years.

Dr. James Stein-Sheridan Shelby, 50, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of conspiring to distribute drugs and three counts of distributing hydrocodone without a legitimate medical purpose. Shelby faces a maximum sentence of 20 years on each charge.

U.S. District Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson set Shelby’s sentencing for May 15 in Spokane federal court.

Co-defendant Timothy James Felch, 36, of Spokane, pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge in 2018 and will be sentenced on April 24. Felch’s name was used in Shelby’s prescriptions, which were filled and given to another patient.

Federal agents searched Shelby’s dental office, Indian Trail Dental Care, in April, according to court documents. During the search, Shelby said he knew the reason for the search warrant was his prescribing of medication to a patient referred to as M.B. in court documents.

Shelby had treated M.B. for a lump in her jaw years prior and had prescribed medication to her, according to court documents. He said he became involved in an inappropriate relationship with M.B., and she became addicted to pain medication. Shelby told agents in April that it had been several years since he treated her as a regular patient and that he was responsible for the prescriptions.

Beginning in 2015, Shelby wrote 41 prescriptions, totaling 2,116 tablets, with Felch’s name. The filled prescriptions were given to M.B. Shelby also used the names of two others for hundreds of more tablets that were given to M.B.