*CORRECTION: Dr. Mancoll was convicted of misdemeanors not felonies as previously reported.
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A Virginia Beach plastic surgeon has been convicted of misdemeanor drug possession after prosecutors say he was found with opioid pills that he’d instructed his patients to return to him.
John Stuart Mancoll, 59, was convicted on Thursday by a federal jury in Norfolk, the Department of Justice announced. He was found guilty of illegal possession of the controlled substances oxycodone and the stronger hydromorphone.
Prosecutors say Mancoll was first found in possession of the pills back on August 18, 2021, when he was stopped by Virginia Beach patrol officers.
He claimed at the time that he had prescriptions for the drugs, but prosecutors say evidence at the trial showed the pills didn’t match any of his past prescriptions.
Instead, they matched the unused pills he instructed his patients to return to him. Police found at least five prescription bottles at the foot of Mancoll’s desk during a search of his office.
Mancoll, who maintained his innocence, testified that he believed someone planted the pills found in his prescription bottle during that 2021 traffic stop.
Mancoll is expected to be sentenced on the charges October 20. He faces up to two years in prison.