Podiatrist pleads guilty in drugs-for-sex case

An East Dundee podiatrist was sentenced to six years in prison Wednesday after he pleaded guilty in a drugs-for-sex caper with his patients, including several liaisons he secretly videotaped.

Steven P. Loheide, 64, also must serve two years on a strict probation regimen after he is paroled, likely in about three years, according to an agreement with Kane County prosecutors.

Loheide, of 1002 Twisted Oak Court in Algonquin, also is barred from ever practicing medicine again, a condition Chief Judge Donald Hudson ordered before he would approve the plea deal.

"Your conduct in this case is an enormous betrayal of your position and the public's trust," Hudson said.

The 35-year physician was first arrested in October 2007 after a female worker at Fox Valley Podiatry, at routes 68 and 72, discovered a camera in a washcloth between some towels in a changing room.

In February, Loheide was charged with 95 new offenses after police learned he'd used his practice to dole Vicodin and other drugs to patients in exchange for sex.

Until Wednesday, the married father had been jailed on $5 million bond.

Loheide, wearing shackles and an orange jail uniform, pleaded guilty to four felony offenses, unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and three eavesdropping charges.

His attorney, Timothy Mahoney, declined to comment.

Had he contested the allegations at trial, he could have faced probation or up to 30 years in prison if convicted of the most serious offenses, said prosecutor Greg Sams.

The conviction caps off an unusual investigation by East Dundee police, who discovered Loheide's practice also was a front for a roughly decade-old pills-for-sex scheme involving up to seven women, Detective Mike Seyller said.

Loheide is accused of using his medical license to order Vicodin, which he gave to female patients without a prescription in exchange for sex. Police discovered video recordings of 29 different liaisons he secretly recorded in his office.

Loheide also would deliver the drug to the women at their homes for sex. When he couldn't, a male friend would go instead and also have sex with the women, police said.

Before he was charged in Kane County, federal agents were on to Loheide.

Court documents show the federal Drug Enforcement Agency stripped the doctor of his ability to write drug prescriptions -- but never told local police.

Loheide then switched his drug of choice to Tramadol, which is not a controlled substance, and resumed trading painkillers for sex, the documents show.

"Now he's no longer practicing medicine in our town," Seyller said.

Mahoney said Loheide surrendered his medical license in February and has retired.

Loheide receives credit for 43 days in jail but also must pay several hundred dollars in court fines and fees. He has no prior criminal record.