Benson, Arizona - Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced former doctor Glenn Gary Robertson pleaded guilty to Attempted First Degree Murder, Illegally Conducting an Enterprise and Illegal Administration of a Narcotic Drug. With two pending cases against him in Cochise County Superior Court, Robertson resolved both by entering a plea agreement.
Robertson was an internal medicine doctor practicing medicine in Benson, Arizona, since 2004. His license to practice medicine was summarily suspended by the Arizona Medical Board effective June 25, 2018, and ultimately revoked effective December 14, 2018, for prescribing methylphenidate (Ritalin) to a woman he did not examine. Believing an acquaintance reported him to the Arizona Medical Board, Robertson began plotting to have her murdered.
In early 2019, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was already investigating Robertson and discovered the murder-for-hire plot. A joint undercover operation was subsequently launched with the FBI’s Sierra Vista Office and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office Special Investigations Section. Robertson eventually bartered with an undercover officer to have the woman murdered by providing a rifle.
Law enforcement’s investigation into Robertson uncovered that Robertson used his medical license to sell OxyContin prescriptions in Cochise County between February 20, 2017, and November 9, 2018. Robertson, while still practicing medicine, partnered with an alleged local drug dealer to illegally distribute OxyContin.
As stipulated in the plea agreement, Robertson will serve 12.5 years in prison for Attempted First Degree Murder, along with a concurrent prison term of 8.75 years for Illegally Conducting an Enterprise, with both followed by a consecutive term of 7.0 years of probation for Illegal Administration of a Narcotic Drug. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 27, 2020 at 1:30 p.m.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Special Agents with the Arizona Attorney General's Office.
Assistant Attorneys General Sterling Struckmeyer and Jordan Emerson are prosecuting this case.