Former St. Charles pharmacist sentenced

After a boating accident that resulted in a slipped disk in his back, Mark Burger was prescribed Vicodin and physical therapy.

But instead of aiding with recovery, the painkiller set the former lead pharmacist for Burger Drugs, a fixture in St. Charles for more than 70 years, on a path to addiction and possibly prison.

“I had a feeling of well-being that I’d never experienced before (after taking Vicodin). That was my trigger for addiction,” Burger told Kane County Judge Allen Anderson Thursday. “I let myself, my family and my community down.”

Burger, 43, of the 1400 block of Melbourne Street, Elburn, was in court for sentencing after pleading guilty to possession of a controlled substance — methadone — last December.

Anderson sentenced Burger to 60 days in jail, 30 months of probation and 150 hours of community service and fined him $32,000.

“This is about Mark Burger and the choices me made because all choices have consequences,” Anderson said. “I hope you get this right.”

Burger initially was charged late 2008 with acquiring, possessing and delivering controlled substances of methadone and hydrocodone between January 2006 and April 2008 after an investigation by the Illinois State Police’s North Central Narcotics Task Force.

Burger pleaded guilty in exchange for prosecutors dropping nine other felony charges and not seeking a sentence beyond six months in jail and probation.

The felony carried a possible prison term of four to 15 years, but probation was an option. Burger can get out of jail in 30 days with good behavior.

A dozen witnesses — including Burger’s parents, his wife, Kane County Board member John Hoscheit, and Yurs Funeral Home President James Diorio — testified that Burger was a devoted father and husband, compassionate pharmacist, upstanding community member and good candidate for probation.

“He’s reached the very bottom, and I think it makes him all the more determined to make a new life for himself,” said his mom, Marla Burger.

Burger said he got treatment for his Vicodin addiction and was clean for several years before being prescribed the drug for kidney stones. He said he used low doses of methadone to reduce to withdrawal effects. He denied selling any pills.

Authorities in April 2008 searched Burger’s home near the Blackberry Creek Elementary School, finding 700 methadone pills, and the pharmacy, 9 E. Main St., seizing large quantities of prescription drugs and $10,000 cash.

Assistant State’s Attorney Jody Gleason said an audit of the pharmacy left more than 100,000 hydrocodone and methadone pills unaccounted for.

Burger Drugs closed in July 2008.