Veterinarian ordered to serve jail time for probation violation in steroid case

? Hutchinson veterinarian Mark Schwarm has been ordered to serve his jail time for distributing anabolic steroids, after a judge ruled that he had violated his probation.

Schwarm’s attorney said after Friday’s hearing that he would file an appeal bond to keep Schwarm out of jail.

Schwarm was convicted in September 1999 on nine counts of distribution of anabolic steroids. He was given a one-year, three-month suspended prison sentence, placed on three years’ probation and fined $5,000. He also was ordered to do 30 days of work-release.

Schwarm was ordered to serve the 15-month prison sentence for providing the steroid to bodybuilder Jack Cooper, a former Hutchinson resident.

However, on Aug. 1, officers serving a search warrant found a bottle of phenobarbital pills discovered in his office desk and a gun cabinet with eight guns in the basement of his home.

Possession of firearms and illegal drugs are violations of Schwarm’s probation.

“Dr. Schwarm was caught red-handed with the controlled substance and firearms,” Reno County Dist. Atty. Keith Schroeder said during closing arguments Friday.

The state had asked that Schwarm be ordered to serve out his one-year, three month prison sentence.

The defense had argued that Schwarm didn’t have the key to unlock the gun case.

But Reno County District Court Judge Steven Becker said Schwarm continued to “own, possess and control the firearms.” Similarly, the controlled substance, phenobarbital, was discovered on the premises, “controlled and owned” by Schwarm.

“All evidence indicates to the court that Dr. Schwarm believed the conditions of probation really did not apply to him,” Becker said.

Becker granted Schwarm two weeks to get his affairs in order and told Schwarm to surrender Feb. 22 to the Reno County Jail.

At that point, defense attorney Steve Joseph handed a prepared notice of appeal to Schroeder and requested that Becker set an appeal bond.

The judge set a $25,000 appeal bond with stipulations: Schwarm is further prohibited from practicing veterinary medicine and he can’t leave the state unless granted permission from court services.