Published: 2012-05-31 14:38:30
Author: JENNIFER EDWARDS
A federal judge on Wednesday denied the release of a 62-year-old former Daytona Beach chiropractor because of the risk that he might flee the country, officials said.
Magistrate Judge Karla R. Spaulding deemed Joseph Burrell Wagner Jr. -- an inmate at the Orange County Jail since his May 17 arrest -- a flight risk, Department of Justice spokesman William Daniels said. Wagner's hearing was at the federal courthouse in Orlando.
FBI agents charged Wagner with health care fraud and dispensing controlled substances at his now-closed North Ridgewood Avenue practice, federal and Orange County jail records show.
FBI agents had said they feared Wagner would bolt for the Dominican Republic, where he was supposed to marry a prostitute.
The charges came after federal agents raided the Wagner Chiropractic and Acupuncture Clinic in August 2011.
The agents were seeking evidence that Wagner was dispensing controlled substances and defrauding insurance companies, according to the FBI criminal complaint.