Craig A. Spiegel worked as a pediatrician in the St. Louis area for years. From the outside, his practice appeared to be like any other upstanding doctor, but that wasn’t the case at all. From 2014 to 2023, Spiegel used his position of power as a physician to write prescriptions for controlled substances in exchange for sexual favors. Thankfully, Spiegel’s victims were adults, but that doesn’t make his crimes any less disgusting. In court, Spiegel tried to blame his crimes on losing a loved one in the Holocaust. The bizarre reasoning didn’t impress a judge, who had no difficulty telling Spiegel exactly what he thought of him.
Spiegel wrote prescriptions for an ‘astronomical amount of drugs.‘
The US District Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Missouri announced Spiegel’s sentence in March of 2026 in a news release. Assistant US Attorney Amy Sestric told the court that Spiegel put an “astronomical amount of drugs” in the hands of women in exchange for sexual favors. He didn’t help these women get help for addiction; instead, he helped destroy their lives.
“Dr. Craig Spiegel is no better than a street-level drug dealer. He knowingly exploited individuals struggling with addiction, not to treat them, but to keep them dependent,” Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division said via the release. “For years, he fueled that addiction to ensure a steady stream of victims for his own sexual gratification. Spiegel didn’t just violate his oath as a physician, he preyed on vulnerable women and put their lives at serious risk of overdose.”
Spiegel and a co-defendant worked together.
Per the US Attorney’s Office, Spiegel prescribed drugs to April Bingham, whom he knew was selling them but did it anyway because of the sex. Spiegel apparently had no regard for others’ well-being and cared only about himself.
“Acts such as those performed by this individual cannot and will not be tolerated,” DEA St. Louis Field Division Special Agent in Charge Michael Davis shared in the news release. “This man took advantage of his position and in the process, harmed countless individuals who filled prescriptions that he wrote, for a medical condition they didn’t have. Spiegel not only hurt those who trusted him, he destroyed his reputation and because of his actions now faces a significant time in federal prison.”
Spiegel made a bizarre statement in court.
Spiegel, who is Jewish, apologized in court and blamed his behavior on losing a family member in the Holocaust, according to Fox 2. After listening to Spiegel and impact statements, US District Court Judge John Ross reportedly called the excuse “offensive.” Ross had zero pity for Spiegel and told him, “What you did was a horrendous breach of trust.”
The disgraced doctor, now 70, will spend the next 20 years in jail. Spiegel must also pay $114,480 in restitution for losses to Medicare, Missouri Medicaid, and Illinois Medicaid resulting from his faulty prescriptions.
If he’s lucky, Spiegel will be 90 years old when he gets out of prison. This is a sick man who deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars for the lives he ruined for his own gratification.
