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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, July 18, 2003

Doctor may avoid jail in Internet drug case

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

A Honolulu doctor who worked as an anesthesiologist at Kaiser Permanente's Moanalua Medical Center pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to contraband drug and firearm charges.

Dr. Peter Edward Fong, 43, pleaded guilty to importing controlled substances to Hawai'i and possessing firearms while using illicit drugs. He did not contest efforts by the U.S. government to have him forfeit a late-model Lexus automobile and five pistols.

Fong told U.S. Magistrate Leslie Kobayashi, "I ordered analogues of GBH and DB over the Internet and imported them to the United States."

Fong told Kobayashi that he had the drugs sent through the mail to Mail Boxes Etc. and that he used the Lexus to retrieve the packages after they were sent to him.

Fong also acknowledged that he owned several firearms at the same time he was using the drugs he had ordered over the Internet. He said he also used cocaine, marijuana and the drug commonly known as ecstacy.

Fong could face up to 30 years in jail when he is sentenced in February, but will likely face a far shorter term or possibly no jail time at all under federal sentencing guidelines, given his otherwise clean record and efforts to rehabilitate himself.

In a somewhat unusual pre-trial detention move, Fong was allowed to attend a drug treatment center in Oregon to address his substance abuse problems.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Kawahara, who prosecuted the case, said after yesterday's hearing that the felonies to which Fong pleaded guilty do not require a mandatory minimum jail term.

Kawahara said Fong used the Internet to order the chemical substances from Canada and had them mailed to Hawai'i knowing it was against the law to do so. The two chemicals are essentially industrial solvents, but when consumed can be converted by the human body into "GBH," also known as the "date rape drug."

Kawahara said Fong was the only Hawai'i resident and only doctor arrested in September 2002 as part of a nationwide roundup of people suspected of using the Internet to purchase drugs from Canada and having them shipped to the United States.

When first arrested, Fong told police he was using the substances to treat his own insomnia problems.

Kawahara said it appears that Fong imported the drugs only for his own use and did not sell or give the substances to anyone else.

Fong's lawyer, Brook Hart, said Fong hopes to resume his medical practice at some point.

"Dr. Fong has dealt with the situation in a very responsible manner and has addressed his own personal problems in a very positive way," Hart said.