Ex-surgeon who fled to Italy wants more time for plea deal
Associated Press July 3, 2012 12:52PM
Updated: July 3, 2012 3:11PM
An attorney for a former northwestern Indiana surgeon accused of billing insurers and patients for procedures he didn’t perform is asking a federal judge for more time to reach a plea agreement. Mark Weinberger is facing an Aug. 6 deadline to have a plea deal in place. Defense attorney Visvaldis Kupsis filed a motion Tuesday asking U.S. Judge Philip Simon to extend the deadline to Aug. 23. Kupsis says federal prosecutors offered Weinberger a plea deal last week and that he hopes to respond soon. Simon rejected a plea agreement in April, saying he wasn’t sure it took into account the magnitude of the crime. Weinberger was captured in Italy in 2009 after more than five years on the run.
