KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — An East Tennessee doctor once described by a judge as "a drug dealer with an advanced degree" is getting out of federal custody next week, months ahead of schedule.
David Bruce Coffey qualified for a sentencing adjustment under federal guidelines, records state.
Coffey was expected to complete a 40-month sentence in May, but U.S. District Court Judge Katherine A. Crytzer on Tuesday granted Coffey's request to reduce the term to time served as of Feb. 1.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, Coffey was under the authority of a residential re-entry management field office in Central Florida. He had been held at a federal facility in Lexington, Ky., records state.
Coffey, who operated a Scott County clinic for years, pleaded guilty in 2022 to illegally distributing oxycodone and to pocketing money he made from the drug trafficking. Cash-paying customers flocked to the clinic from as far as eastern Kentucky, authorities alleged, knowing they could get pain pills without having to prove their medical need.
When she imposed sentence in 2022, Crytzer noted Coffey had abused his medical trust with the community and contributed for years in the 2010s to the opioid epidemic.
The Drug Enforcement Agency said Coffey prescribed nearly 5 million pills in eight years and made millions from private and government insurance.
Many of the prescriptions he wrote at his Scott County clinic were filled at the pharmacy he co-owned next door, federal records state.
In August, the judge denied Coffey's bid to get early, "compassionate" release on medical grounds.
The defense argues Coffey, in his early 70s, has suffered numerous health setbacks in recent years.
As part of his sentence, Coffey also faces supervised release once he leaves federal formal custody.
