CHICAGO — A man sentenced Wednesday on charges stemming from impersonating a doctor had suggested that he was like retired basketball great Dr. J or rapper Dr. Dre.
"Can't you just call yourself what you want?" the man, Scott C. Redman, asked agents of the federal Drug Enforcement Agency.
A federal jury said no, and Redman, who practiced out of an office on the Near North Side, has been sentenced to 13 years in federal prison.
Redman, 37, of Hammond, was convicted of impersonating a psychiatrist and illegally prescribing medication, including to a 9-year-old.
In all, he prescribed drugs to more than 50 people, federal prosecutors said. A profile of Redman on the clinic's website contained the name of a real physician next to a photo of Redman and a fake biography, including false education claims, prosecutors said.
A video of the DEA interrogation aired by ABC7 in November shows Redman making the comparison to Dr. J, the nickname of NBA Hall of Famer Julius Erving, and rapper Dr. Dre, the stage name of Andre Romelle Young.
A DEA agent asks him, "You called yourself a doctor so people would assume they are coming to speak to a psychiatrist, no?" Replies Redman: "Well, wouldn't that just be like Dr. J the basketball player and Dr. Dre the rapper? Can't you just call yourself what you want?"
A former patient of Redman told the station Redman was "a very clever psychopathic criminal who needs help himself."
The clinic where he worked reportedly also was duped by Redman and sent letters to patients after discovering the fraud.
Redman had also worked in the south suburbs, advertising his services in Psychology Today and offering "relationship therapy," according to the Daily Southtown.
When questioned about his credentials by a Southtown reporter, Redman reportedly replied, "My preference is that you not even pursue this story at all. I'd rather it just go away."
A victim described him to the paper as "a master of deception and manipulation."
"The defendant's conduct was shameless," Assistant U.S. Attorney Katie M. Durick said in a prepared statement. "He preyed upon an already vulnerable population of patients, including a 9-year-old boy, who were seeking mental health treatment for a variety of psychiatric conditions."
