ANNAPOLIS (Oct. 28, 2016)—A Lusby man who operated a wildlife rehabilitation facility was found guilty Thursday in Calvert County District Court on two counts of illegal drug possession and one count of practicing veterinary medicine without a license.
Ronald Gene Wexler, 68, entered an Alford plea—where the defendant pleads guilty without acknowledging fault—to one count of possession of controlled dangerous substance-not marijuana, and a guilty plea to one count of drug possession-not marijuana-and one count of practicing veterinary medicine without a license.
Judge Michelle Saunders gave Wexler a six-month sentence for the possession of a controlled substance and then suspended the sentence. The judge ordered Wexler to pay a $500 fine for practicing without a license and imposed three years of unsupervised probation. The remaining 13 counts were placed on the Stet—or inactive—docket, meaning that if Wexler successfully fulfills his sentence, the state may drop the charges.
Wexler was arrested by Maryland Natural Resources Police in June after a year-long investigation of his facility, Orphaned Wildlife Rescue Center, Inc.
Acting on a tip, officers, state wildlife veterinarians and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service searched his center in August 2015 and found animals that the government alleges should have been euthanized due to the extent of their injuries, animals on which Wexler had performed surgery and an osprey held in a cage much too small, which led to muscle atrophy.
The government claims their search also found a host of drugs, including Oxycodone, Demerol, Pentobarbital and Fentanyl. Wexler did not have any licenses or prescriptions for the drugs, which are defined by the federal government as drugs with a high potential for abuse. Wexler goes by the nickname "Doc," and refers to himself as a veterinarian on his web site however he does not have a veterinary license.
This year, prosecutors said, he performed surgery on ospreys and a black rat snake and acknowledged operating on other animals as well. Wexler told officers that it was not cost effective to send every animal he admitted to his center to an independent veterinarian.
According to the Orphaned Wildlife Rescue Center Web site in June of this year, the organization has rescued over 20,000 animals since being founded in 1990.
However, there is no independent method to verify the number.
somd.com has made an inquiry with the Natural Resources Police regarding the
financial cost to taxpayers for their year-long investigation of this case.
According to spokesperson Candy Thomson, the State does not have a figure.
"No investigators was assigned full-time to the case," said Thomson in
an emailed reply. "The lead investigator worked with the state wildlife
veterinarian and the state lab to process the drugs and categorize them. He
met with prosecutors, as needed, and consulted with other experts. Getting
the case together for prosecution took one year."
"As is true with
any police department, all of our investigators handle multiple cases every
year. The lead investigator in the Wexler case had many other cases,
including several fatal boating accidents and a shooting death last year."
RELATED INFORMATION:
President of Local Animal Rescue Charged with Animal Cruelty, Illegal Drugs by DNR Police, June 09, 2016
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