Pa. ‘pill mill’ doctor loses another appeal in bid to withdraw his guilty plea

WILLIAMSPORT — The state’s top prescriber of opioids in 2015 and 2016 has lost another appeal, and a federal judge will not issue a certificate that would allow him to appeal the decision.

U.S. Middle District Judge Matthew W. Brann rejected the latest ineffective counsel argument of Raymond J. Kraynak, finding his attorneys operated admirably in difficult circumstances during trial, plea negotiations and on appeal.

Kraynak, 68, on Sept. 8, 2021, after the government had rested its case in the third week of the trial, pleaded guilty to 12 counts of prescribing drugs outside the course of standard medical practice.