Algonquin podiatrist out of prison thanks to early release program

A Fox Valley podiatrist sentenced to six years in prison last year for running a drugs for sex scheme with his patients is now a free man.

Steven Loheide, 65, of the 1000 block of Twisted Oak Court in Algonquin, was released from prison last Thursday, under Gov. Pat Quinn's early prisoner release program, which is intended to save the state $5 million annually by letting 1,000 nonviolent criminals out of prison.

So far, 200 inmates have been released under the program, said Januari Smith, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Corrections.

As a condition of his release, Loheide is under house arrest and outfitted with an electronic ankle bracelet to monitor his every move.

Loheide, barred from ever practicing medicine again, was being held at the Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet and had been sentenced to serve 6 years.

But because he pleaded guilty to nonviolent offenses, he already qualified for serving half of his 6-year prison stint, prosecutors said.

He also received credit for serving 43 days in jail while the case was pending.

In essence, he served 21½ months of a sentence that would have lasted 36 months anyway.

The 35-year physician was first arrested in October 2007 after a female worker at Fox Valley Podiatry, at routes 68 and 72 in East Dundee, discovered a camera in a washcloth between some towels in a changing room. In February 2008, 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 - which he recorded in some cases.

Loheide pleaded guilty to four felony offenses, unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and three eavesdropping charges.

He will remain under house arrest until July 14, 2010, at which time he begins parole, Smith said.

His parole ends two years later.