U.S. District Judge Sandra Beckwith has agreed with the U.S. Department of Justice motion that Nancy and Lester “Ape” Sadler of West Portsmouth violated their bond by making false statements under oath to the court in their Financial Affidavit to obtain court-appointed counsel, all the while continuing to operate a pain clinic in Columbus.

Beckwith amended the conditions of release to include some provisions requested by the Justice department, including requiring a present financial statement, and a monthly financial statement thereafter, if they want to continue to receive government-funded defense attorneys, but stopped short of ordering them incarcerated.

Beckwith previously banned them from working in any clinic or medical facility, and from entering any casino or similar gambling establishments.

The motion, filed by Assistant United States Attorney Timothy S. Mangan, says that while the Sadlers closed the Waverly pain clinic after their initial court appearance on Aug. 3, 2010, they continued to operate Ohio Medical West in Columbus.

At their initial court appearance Lester Sadler claimed he was not employed but received $1,700 per month in disability and rental income; Nancy Sadler claimed to earn $2,160 per month working at the clinic.

The motion calculates the income and use of the income from the Columbus pain clinic.

According to two physicians, Dr. William Culler and Dr. Daniel Brumfield, who in August had his license suspended by the State Medical Board of Ohio, the clinic handled about 40 patients or more per day and each patient was charged $180 cash per visit. Based on those numbers, the clinic earned at least $25,000 per week in revenue, which is equivalent to more than $100,000 per month, and $1.2 million in gross revenue per year.

According to the motion, the patients paid the $180 to clinic cashier Sandy Wells, who is also a defendant in the case before the federal court, and that Lester Sadler would take the extra cash from Wells.

The motion went on to claim that of the $100,000 in monthly revenue, the Sadlers routinely deposited about $60,000 of cash each month into a business account at Chase Bank. The remaining $40,000 in cash was not deposited into the bank. However, that cash, the motion alleges, was controlled by the Sadlers and is believed to be part of their gambling behavior. In addition to Lester and Nancy Sadler, and Wells, of South Shore, Ky., Lisa Clevenger of Stoutsville, James Sadler of West Portsmouth, and Brenda Banks of Columbus are scheduled to go on trial Feb. 6, 2012.

FRANK LEWIS may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 232, or flewis@heartlandpublications.com.