13 WTHR IndianapolisJanuary trial set for Indiana doctor who hid in Italy

January trial set for Indiana doctor who hid in Italy

Updated:

HAMMOND - A former northwestern Indiana surgeon captured in Italy after more than five years on the run is scheduled to face trial starting Jan. 9 on federal health care fraud charges.

Mark Weinberger of Merrillville pleaded guilty in October to 22 counts of billing insurers and patients for procedures he didn't perform but a federal judge rejected a plea agreement calling for Weinberger to spend four years in prison. Judge Philip Simon said he wasn't confident the deal took into account the magnitude of the crimes.

A U.S. attorney's office spokeswoman says Simon also set a Dec. 23 deadline for a plea agreement to be reached in the case.

Weinberger was arrested on an Italian mountain in 2009 after disappearing while on a vacation trip to Greece in 2004.

(Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)