Bucher, 60, was originally charged with seven counts of aggravated trafficking in drugs and two courts of trafficking in drugs for allegedly selling more than 700 Oxycodone pills and other drugs to a person who worked at his Oxford office, Ohio Family Practice.
The drug trafficking charges were dismissed when he pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor.
Judge Greg Stephens gave Bucher a suspended 30-day jail sentence and placed him on one year probation. He faced a total of 90 days in jail and had faced up to 22 years in prison if convicted on all of the original charges.
Assistant Prosecutor David Kash said in March that the plea was accepted because of elements of the drug trafficking law.
WATCH: Oxford doctor takes the stand in his own defense
Although a legal expert testified Bucher failed to meet the minimum requirements incumbent on physicians when prescribing controlled substances, there was doubt the actions met the crime of drug trafficking.
“The jury would have considered that he acted in good faith when providing treatment to decide if he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of drug trafficking,” Kash said.
The doctor, who has practiced medicine for 34 years, testified during the trial that he wrote nine prescriptions in a three-month period for a woman who worked in his office on Morning Sun Road.
Oxycodone and other drugs for pain and anxiety were prescribed in 2015 to the woman, who was assigned to Bucher’s office as an employee of Physicians Choice Laboratory Services.
Both Bucher and the woman testified the doctor did not receive money or any other “kickbacks” for writing the woman prescriptions.
Bucher, however, did not keep a chart for the woman nor did he have her monitored for opioid usage as required by the Ohio Medical Board.
But, he said, her health — she said she was suffering from hip and back pain — did improve when she was on the medication.
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