Local doctor pleads no contest to larceny charges

On Tuesday, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced that West Bloomfield doctor Michael Arthur Roth, 75, has pleaded no contest to three counts of Larceny in a Building. The charges stem from a 2015 car accident where Roth was found with prescriptions that were stolen from another doctor’s medical clinic.

“Dr. Roth broke the law and jeopardized patient health in the process,” said Schuette. “Today’s plea moves us on step forward in insuring this man cannot do this again.”

Roth pleaded no contest in the 16th Judicial Circuit Court in Mt. Clemens before Judge Michael Servitto. He is scheduled to be sentenced on December 7. 

An investigation into Roth began after a 2015 car accident in West Bloomfield. After the West Bloomfield accident, his car was impounded and Roth requested property from his car. Upon retrieving the property, local police found evidence of six prescriptions for Ciprofloxacin, a common antibiotic used with abortion procedures, which was allegedly written by Dr. Angel Ojeda, a doctor who runs the Eastland Women’s Center in Eastpointe. The clinic’s primary focus is terminating pregnancies. Officers also found vials of Fentanyl, a drug commonly used as a sedative during termination procedures, as well as containers of post-conception material.

Medical records indicate that Roth sometimes worked out of Ojeda’s clinic. Ojeda and the women whose names were listed on the prescriptions said they had no knowledge of the prescriptions. Ojeda also stated that a large amount of Fentanyl was stolen from his office in December 2014. When interviewed, Ojeda stated he had never given Roth permission to have Fentanyl or Ciprofloxacin from his clinic, a statement which was corroborated by a clinic employee. A separate medical assistant employed at the Eastland Women’s Center admitted to stealing medical equipment and medications used in abortions from the clinic for Roth and that he was fully aware the materials were stolen.

A search warrant was completed on Roth’s home and office. Additional vials of Fentanyl were found at the home. Both the Fentanyl found in the car and in the house were matched to the Fentanyl that was stolen from the women’s clinic. The search warrant also revealed a large amount of cash with names and what is believed to be pregnancy information attached to each bundle of cash, medical materials such as syringes, disposable scalpels and empty containers similar to the ones filled with post-conception material found in Roth’s car.