Dentist awaiting trial claims government conspiracy

(KSDK) -- It's been four years since Doctor Tom Sell, a Town and Country Dentist, was arrested for Medicaid Fraud. Since then, no trial, only long periods of solitary confinement at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri.

Sell was a successful dentist for more than 20 years. But in May of 1997, his world came crashing down outside his Town and Country office.

FBI agents forcibly arrested Sell in the parking lot and records show he had to be treated at St. John's Mercy Medical Center before being locked up.

Sell has been indicted by a Grand Jury for Medicaid Fraud. The Government claims he was charging to fix damaged teeth rather than pulling them. "While it may be true it would have saved money by pulling the teeth," said Sell, "in the long run, it would have cost the government more money to replace the teeth instead of saving the teeth."

Sell says, the charges are a cover for the real reason the Federal Government wants him off the streets. "I know that they cremated alive, innocent children, at that Mt. Carmel, 19th April, 1993."

Sell is referring to the Branch Davidian Compound in Waco, Texas that burned to the ground during an FBI raid. Sell watched the tragedy unfold on closed circuit television at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, where he was called to active duty as a Major in the Army reserves.

Sell says his commanding officer told him to report to the Medical Center's burn unit the morning of the raid. "He advised me it was a high security alert and that under no circumstance was I to travel in uniform and to use a different air carrier than normal."

Sell's conclusion - he would use his background in forensic dentistry to identify possible casualties from the raid.

Government officials dispute the story, and government doctors say he's delusional. "I'm not delusional, and I'm certainly not incompetent to stand trial."

Assistant US Attorney Howard Markus disagrees, saying, "He has been examined by two sets of experts. The government expert and his own experts and they all conclude, they have a remarkably similar conclusion that he is not competent to proceed."

What the two sides don't agree on, is how Sell should be treated. The government wants to forcibly medicate Sell and two Federal judges have agreed. But Sell and his attorneys say the drugs are dangerous and have appealed the rulings to the 8th Circuit Court of appeals in St. Louis.

"Why should I take the drugs and risk going into a comma or death or totally incapacitated for the rest of my life."

Sell's attorneys argue he should be treated by therapy in a nurturing environment. They also maintain, that being locked up in solitary confinement for long periods of time is aggravating his condition. A claim backed up by Dr. Gary Vickar, who has no ties to the case. "If one is prone to develop a delusion disorder, certain extreme stresses, one of which could be isolation, one of which could be depression from food or shelter could all lead to this disorder."

Sell says, if it's a choice between prison and the drugs, he'll stay where he is. "My own conscious comes first so that I can not plead guilty to crimes I did not commit or take drugs that I know would damage by brain. Just because I think it would get me out of this dilemma quicker."

A Federal Appeals Court Judge could decide this month whether Sell will be forcibly medicated. A grand jury has also indicted sell for conspiracy to commit murder, relating to a witness and FBI agent involved in the case. Sell maintains, it's part of the government's conspiracy.

Okay, up until this next one, I was highly skeptical. People who suffer from delusional disorders can be unbelievably believable. I've sat one-on-one with several people who made me feel compelled to go triple-check their chart after talking to them, just to "make sure."

Some of them can appear perfectly "normal" and spin elaborate and grandiose stories of being FBI ops or DEA plants, complete with factual but very obscure information that you know to be true. The more intelligent of these people can spin very believable stories based on fact and research they've gleaned from their voracious reading habits, usually from the internet.

But with all that said, this next one got my attention...

Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
April 27, 2001, Friday, FIVE STAR LIFT EDITION
Correction Appended
METRO, Pg. C3

COURT RULES THAT U.S. MAY DRUG IMPRISONED DENTIST AGAINST HIS WILL; COUNTY MAN, HELD FOR NEARLY 4 YEARS, HAS YET TO BE TRIED
Carolyn Tuft

A federal judge has ruled that the government can forcibly drug Dr. Charles "Tom" Sell so that he's fit to stand trial for charges of fraud and conspiracy to commit murder.

But Sell's lawyer appealed the ruling and won a stay last week. The lawyer, Lee Lawless, said Sell was terrified of being drugged.

Sell is a dentist from Town and Country who has been imprisoned for nearly four years without being tried on the charges of conspiracy to kill a witness and Medicaid fraud. U.S. District Judge Donald J. Stohr had ruled that Sell was "delusional" because he had said he was sent to San Antonio days before April 19, 1993 - when the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, burned and Sell was to identify the possible charred remains of Army personnel.

Stohr also ruled that contrary to what the federal government believes, Sell is not dangerous.

But the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed Stohr's ruling.

Sell also has said that his civil attorney, Gordon Baum, was roughed up at his home by an FBI agent. That statement was backed up by Baum, who testified in 1999 that he was attacked by FBI agents on April 30, 1998.

Sell also has provided Army records that show that he was called as a forensic dentist to identify remains at an Army burn center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. That happened the same day that the Waco compound burned.

Sell has maintained his innocence in the fraud and conspiracy charges. He also has claimed that the government is angry with him because he has said federal authorities plotted to blow up the Branch Davidian compound.

Sell said last week from his solitary confinement cell that he would retract all statements he has made about the government's role at Waco and Baum, his civil attorney, if the government would not medicate him forcibly.

"If I have to publicly denounce any of that, I will," Sell said. "I just want to be tried."

Sell has been held at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Mo., since 1999, when his bond was revoked after he allegedly threatened a potential witness who worked in his dental office by pointing his finger at her. He had been free for several months after posting bond. Prior to bond, Sell was held in county jails around the area on the charges.

Sell also faces the conspiracy to commit murder charge on allegations that he and his wife, Mary, tried to hire a hit man to kill a former dental office employee, Jane Alderman, and FBI Special Agent Anthony Box.

Mary Sell pleaded guilty to conspiracy on Sept. 24, 1998, and in January last year was sentenced to two years in prison. [see correction below; this is wrong]

Documents obtained by the Post-Dispatch show that the FBI placed Alderman in Sell's office. Alderman cooperated with authorities in hopes the government would go easier on her for allegedly lying at a workers' compensation hearing and allegedly obtaining controlled drugs.

Alderman said that Sell threatened her while he was out on bond by pointing his finger at her. Sell says he never saw Alderman while he was out on bond.

Federal prosecutors Howard Marcus and Dorothy McMurty were unavailable for comment. They have argued that Sell is incompetent to stand trial and that he is dangerous.

Lawless, Sell's public defender, said that it was usually the defense lawyers who try to argue incompetence. His argument is that the government has no right to forcibly medicate Sell.

"It's highly unusual" that the government would continue delays by arguing for incompetency, Lawless said. "Usually, they are the ones fighting that."

CORRECTION DATE: April 30, 2001

CORRECTION:
This story about Dr. Charles "Tom" Sell incorrectly characterized the disposition of the criminal case against his wife, Mary. In a plea bargain, Mary Sell pleaded guilty to 10 counts of mail fraud, and all other counts against her were dropped.

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