Springs MD pleads guilty in drug case, surrenders license

A Colorado Springs doctor was sentenced to five years probation today after pleading guilty to selling a recommendation for a medical marijuana registry certificate to an undercover detective for $300.

Fourth Judicial District Judge Thomas L. Kennedy imposed the sentence shortly after Peter W.S. Grigg entered the plea to a charge of attempting to influence a public servant, a felony.

Kennedy also ordered Grigg, a 49-year-old anesthesiologist, to serve 250 hours of community service.

The probation sentence will run at the same time as a similar sentence Grigg received Thursday for his guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Denver to federal charges of selling the drugs Ecstasy and the painkiller Oxycodone to undercover agents.

Grigg has been ordered to serve 180 days in home detention on the federal charge beginning Jan 1. A federal judge ordered him to forfeit $4,755 in cash found in his briefcase, $12,215 recovered from a safe in his house as well as a collection of gold coins. Grigg also agreed to surrender nine firearms.

On Friday, Grigg voluntarily surrendered his license to practice medicine in Colorado. He had been a licensed physician in Colorado since July 2000. He held privileges at several local health care facilities including Memorial Hospital, Printer’s Park Medical Plaza, Colorado Springs Surgery Center, Digestive Disease Endoscopy Center, Colorado Springs Health Partners and Premier Surgery Center.

According to the agreement to relinquish his license, Grigg had been having his own drug problems. He admitted to the state Board of Medical Examiners that he had been using the pain killers Vicodin and OxyContin without medical justification. He also admitted to using drugs during working hours.

Last month, District Attorney Dan May cited the state charges against Grigg while briefing the Colorado Springs City Council on concerns that he and law enforcement officials have about medical marijuana dispensaries.

The Colorado Springs conviction stems from a Nov. 25, 2008, incident in which an undercover narcotics detective paid Grigg $300 to fill out the paperwork needed to obtain a medical marijuana registry identification card.

According to the arrest affidavit, the transaction occurred in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart at 707 S. 8^th Street.

The undercover detective said he had no medical problems and that Grigg replied he would note that the officer suffered from migraines and nausea, the affidavit stated.

Before completing the paperwork, Grigg said he had filled out about 200 such requests for individuals, police said.

The detective said Grigg warned him to be “discreet” about his marijuana use, citing the case of several 19- and 20-year-olds who had been reckless with their use of the certificate.

According to the affidavit, the doctor also asked if the undercover officer had children. When he replied yes, Grigg advised him to keep the marijuana under lock and key, citing problems with patients whose children had eaten some marijuana-laced brownies.

For more on this case, go to the Sidebar blog at Gazette.com