Eichler

A prospective plea deal has been worked out for a Minot neurosurgeon who had been scheduled to go on trial on federal sex abuse charges in Bismarck later this month.

According to court documents filed in U.S. District Court on Tuesday, Dr. Marc Edward Eichler will agree to plead guilty to one count of production of child pornography. The federal prosecutor will recommend a sentence at the low end of the possible 2 1/2 years to 10 year sentence for the charge, along with five years of supervised release. Eichler would also be required to register as a sex offender.

The federal prosecutor notes that an upward adjustment in the sentence would be justified due to a pattern of abues and use of a computer to commit the offense. The prosecutor agrees to recommend a downward adjustment to the sentence because Eichler is accepting responsibility for the crime.

The maximum penalty Eichler could have faced for the charge would be 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and up to lifetime supervised probation.

Under the plea deal, other counts in the indictment would be dismissed. Eichler was indicted June 1, 2016, on two counts of production of materials depicting the sexual exploitation of minors; two counts of attempted production of materials depicting the sexual exploitation of minors; one count of receipt of materials involving the sexual exploitation of minors; one count of attempted receipt of materials involving the sexual exploitation of minors and one count of transfer of obscene materials to minors.

Eichler is accused of exchanging sexually explicit texts and photos with two area girls in 2015 when they were 12 and 13. Eichler also allegedly provided the first girl with alcohol and tobacco and a smart phone and other gifts and also paid for hotel rooms in different locations for her and her friends as an incentive for her not to talk about the alleged sex abuse.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed in state court, Eichler was originally charged there with Class AA gross sexual imposition for allegedly sexually assaulting one of the girls when she was babysitting at his residence and two counts of Class B felony luring a minor by computer for allegedly texting lewd messages and photos to the girls. The state charges against him there were dismissed once the federal charges were filed.

No sentencing date has been listed, but a consent to a pre-sentence investigation for Eichler was filed.

Eichler was formerly a neurosurgeon at Trinity Hospital in Minot. The North Dakota Board of Medicine has suspended his license to practice indefinitely citing unprofessional conduct.