Kohli Sentenced to Two Years in Prison, Fines, Forfeiture of Office Building

Effingham doctor Naeem Kohli was sentenced Wednesday to two years in federal prison after being found guilty early this year of illegal dispensation of controlled substances.

The 61-year-old Kohli, who operated the Kohli Neurology and Sleep Center in Effingham, was also ordered to forfeit his office building located at 500 North Maple. Kohli was fined $10,000 and must pay a $700 special assessment. He also must forfeit $34,419.72, which prosecutors say is the result of his drug convictions.

Kohli was indicted by a Federal grand jury in March of 2014 and went to trial in January of this year. On January 27, after a 17-day jury trial, Kohli was found guilty on seven counts of illegally dispensing Schedule II controlled substances to patients prosecutors say suffered from drug addiction. The jury concluded Kohli illegally dispensed Oxycodone and Hydromorphone outside the usual course of the medical practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose.

Southern District US Attorney Stephen Wigginton said, "the evidence heard by the jury and judge in this case established that Dr. Kohli abandoned his role as a medical professional for a price."

Kohli will follow his prison time with three years of supervised release.