West Palm Beach teen accused of posing as doctor offered plea deal

Malachi Love-Robinson considers 3-year prison term or trial

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A West Palm Beach teenager accused of posing as a doctor has been offered a plea deal.

Malachi Love-Robinson, 18, was arrested earlier this year after Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputies said he was practicing medicine without a license.

During a hearing Wednesday morning in West Palm Beach, a prosecutor offered Love-Robinson a plea deal that would send him to prison for three years, to be followed by five years of probation.

Love-Robinson has until next month to accept the offer. If he declines, he would face trial in July.

"There's no comments at this time," Love-Robinson's attorney told reporters after the hearing.

Deputies said Love-Robinson operated the New Birth New Life Medical Center & Urgent Care office at 4700 N. Congress Ave., Suite 303. The website listed Love-Robinson as a doctor, even though he wasn't licensed by the Florida Department of Health.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Love-Robinson treated an undercover deputy at his office while wearing a white physician's coat and a stethoscope around his neck. The deputy wrote in her report that Love-Robinson took her blood pressure and gave her a physical examination, telling her that her "lungs were clear" and her "heart sounded strong."

In a Florida Department of Health investigative report, Love-Robinson claimed to hold degrees from Arizona State University and Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine & Health Sciences, both in Tempe, Arizona, but the school registrars found no records of Love-Robinson's enrollment at either institution.

The report said Love-Robinson claimed to be a doctor of homeopathic medicine.

Love-Robinson told ABC News in a recent interview that he was a doctor, but not a medical doctor.

"I do currently hold a Ph.D.," he said. "In what, I don't feel comfortable disclosing."

 

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Peter Burke returned for a second stint of duty at Local 10 News in February 2014.

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