KEY WEST, Fla. – A longtime South Florida physician is no longer facing criminal charges.
Dr. Sandra Schwemmer, the 72-year-old former medical director of Monroe County Fire Rescue, was one of four officials charged in connection with the agency’s Trauma Star air ambulance drug theft scandal.
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Schwemmer, indicted in August, had been accused of official misconduct, providing false information to law enforcement and altering patient records.
Monroe County court records show Schwemmer signed a pre-trial intervention agreement in October and the case against her was subsequently dropped.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Schwemmer said, “I am pleased that all charges against me have been dropped. I maintained from the very beginning that I did nothing improper as Medical Director of EMS and Trauma Star and performed all duties and responsibilities required of me. I am looking forward to putting this incident behind me and continuing my work in developing and advancing pre-hospital and emergency programs that improve healthcare for those in need.”
Schwemmer’s attorney said the charges were “inconsistent with the years of work” Schwemmer dedicated to the county and that the decision to drop charges “confirms this.”
“I reviewed the allegations against Dr. Schwemmer and found no evidence of any crime committed by her,” private investigator Wayne Black said in a news release. “In my opinion, the audit conducted by the clerk should have been done by an outside independent third party. I am not sure that people understood the limited authority of the medical director over the fire department.”
Schwemmer, of Boca Raton, has been a licensed Florida physician since 1979 with no disciplinary record.
Court records show that the criminal cases against former MCFR Division Chief Andrea Thompson, 45, former Monroe County Administrator Roman Gastesi, 63, and former Chief Flight Nurse Lynda Rusinowski, 58, remained active as of Thursday morning.