For three years, Samrat Mukherjee was living the dream of being a young doctor. He had access to Baton Rouge hospitals, he wore a flight surgeon’s uniform to work, he often showed off his medical degree and he even threw himself a party to celebrate his graduation from medical school.

But there was one glaring problem: It was all a lie. Part of what federal prosecutors described as a “yearslong fantasy” Mukherjee had of being a licensed physician.

On Tuesday, a federal judge sentenced Mukherjee to 6 months in prison for masquerading as a doctor at several Baton Rouge-area hospitals.

Mukherjee, 37, pleaded guilty in March to a felony count of making false statements relating to health care matters. The charge carried a 5-year maximum. But in their presentencing report, federal proba

See Full Page