A Michigan doctor who provided services in northwest Ohio is facing a federal drug charge after authorities were alerted to an alleged plot to kill one Michigan attorney and frame another.
Dr. Daniel A. Schwarz, 56, of Waterford, Mich., is charged with conspiracy and attempt to possess with the intent to distribute a controlled substance, according to records in U.S. District Court in Toledo. He was arrested by federal agents Friday in Sylvania Township. He had an initial court appearance that day and remains in the Lucas County Jail pending a hearing Thursday.
A criminal complaint filed by the FBI’s Cleveland Division states a cooperating witness alerted Lima police on Aug. 3 to his alleged “plotting and soliciting to kill Michael David McCulloch and frame Robert Meisner by planting fentanyl in his vehicle.”
Mr. McCulloch, an attorney based in Madison Heights, Mich., represented Dr. Schwarz’s opposition in a civil lawsuit that resulted in a judgment against him of about $60,000, according to the complaint. Mr. Meisner, an attorney based in Bingham Farms, Mich., was Dr. Schwarz’s lawyer in the suit.
Vicki Anderson, spokesman for the FBI, said the agency cannot comment on the matter outside of the charging document because the investigation is ongoing and other charges could be filed.
“People are where they’re supposed to be right now,” said Mr. McCulloch when reached by The Blade on Wednesday.
Mr. Meisner was traveling and not available for comment Wednesday, according to his office.
Dr. Schwarz specializes in pain management. Multiple sources, including Facebook and LinkedIn profiles, list him as the founder and principal or president of the Center for Pain Recovery in Keego Harbor and Southfield, Mich., and as president of the Michigan Society of Addiction Medicine.
The FBI’s witness is a drug addict who was treated by Dr. Schwarz through the Anhedonia Clinic in Lima and Full Circle Recovery Services in Findlay, according to the complaint. The doctor discussed his plans with the witness, initially asked him or her to buy a gun with a silencer, and later agreed to pay the informant $2,000 for the help.
In a sting coordinated through the FBI, the witness provided Dr. Schwarz with “a substance that appeared to be fentanyl” on Aug. 22 at the doctor’s medical office on Meijer Drive in Sylvania Township, the complaint shows. The pair discussed sprinkling the heroin and fentanyl mixture on Mr. McCulloch’s neck and later in his coffee at an unidentified coffee shop.
Later in that same encounter, Dr. Schwarz indicated an associate of his, identified only as Ken, had a vendetta against Mr. McCulloch and was willing to kill the attorney for $10,000 after he filed a civil suit against the man’s father.
Agents arrested Dr. Schwarz at a nearby gas station after he and the witness left the location. In an interview, the doctor told investigators about ongoing, financially taxing legal issues regarding a foundation issue with a condominium he owns.
According to the complaint, he “expressed disdain” for Mr. McCulloch and Mr. Meisner, and told investigators that “he fantasized about killing Meisner and McCulloch” and discussed those thoughts with several patients.
“Schwarz said that he had thoughts and discussions about kidnapping the attorneys and taking them to a secluded location and burning them, or injecting them with fentanyl,” the complaint reads. “Schwarz described his thoughts akin to scenes from the [Quentin Tarantino] movie Reservoir Dogs.”
The doctor told authorities he intended to plant the narcotics in the attorneys’ vehicles or on their person, but said “the intention was never to cause harm to McCulloch rather to just introduce the narcotics into their system,” according to the complaint.
First Published August 29, 2019, 12:12 a.m.
