Corbin physician gets 22 months in federal prison for firearms charges

The good news for Corbin physician Nikhil Parulekar is that Federal Judge Amul Thapar agreed that he did not have 17 firearms in his possession including a loaded handgun police found in his vehicle as part of a drug dealing operation, reducing the sentencing range for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm to 18 to 24 months.

The bad news is that Thapar left no room for discussion concerning what would happen should Parulekar violate any of the conditions of his three years of supervised release that he must complete after serving a 22-month prison to which he is sentenced Friday.

“If he violates once, I’m going to hammer him, so he has got to get this thing under control,” Thapar said, noting Parulekar faces an additional two years in prison if he fails a drug test.

Parulekar, who admitted Friday that he has a substance abuse problem and has been undergoing treatment through the Celebrate Recovery Program during his incarceration in the Laurel County Detention Center.

Parulker told the court that he made some irrational decisions while he was under the influence.

However since he was arrested for unspecified violations of his bond conditions on Feb. 12, Parulekar said he has been sober and completely off any type of the prescription medications he had abused in the past.

“I realize the true effects of the drugs,” Parulekar said, adding that he has been a good physician in the past and believes he can be again.

Parulekar was facing up to 10 years in prison on each charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. He pleaded guilty to the charges on Feb. 6.

Parulekar is prohibited from possessing firearms because of a felony conviction in Knox County in 1998 for forgery of a prescription.

Corbin Police found a 9mm handgun in Parulekar’s possession during a traffic stop in Feb. 2014. Police searched the car during the course of serving an arrest warrant for failure to appear in regard to a speeding ticket in Bell County. In addition to the gun, police found two small baggies of prescription medications, which were later identified as Oxycodone and Adderall.

U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents found the remaining 16 firearms, during a search of his mother’s home in response to an interview with Parulekar.

A federal grand jury indicted Parulekar in September.

Parulekar’s attorney, David Hoskins, told the court that Parulekar told law enforcement about the firearms and where they could be found.