Benoit's Doctor Charged

Chris Benoit's doctor has some serious explaining to do.

The wrestling superstar's personal physician surrendered to authorities in Atlanta on Monday to face federal charges of improperly dispensing painkillers. The feds launched a probe of Dr. Phil Astin last week after Benoit murdered his wife and seven-year-old son and then committed suicide in the family's Fayetteville, Georgia, home.

Astin was indicted on seven counts of prescribing drugs—including Percocet, Xanax, Lorcet and Vicoprofen—without medical need. The prescriptions were made out to two individuals, with the initials O.G. and M.J., between April 2004 and September 2005, U.S. Attorney spokesman Patrick Crosby confirmed to E! Online.

He was arraigned this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Linda Walker and released on $120,000 secured bond, which included surrendering his medical license.

"Federal law requires medical practitioners to sign and date a prescription for a controlled substance on the date the prescription is issued," U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said at an afternoon press conference.

While Benoit's name did not appear on the list of recipients in the indictment, a separate criminal complaint was also made public.

According to the prosecutor, Astin wrote prescriptions for approximately 1 million doses of controlled substances during the past two years, including "significant quantities" of the injectable testosterone cypionate, an anabolic steroid. Drug agents called that amount above and beyond the norm for a doctor whose practice is located in a rural area.

While identified as supplying the controlled substances, the feds did not charge Astin with providing Benoit with steroids—yet.

"Our investigation is ongoing and additional charges are possible," said Nahmias.

But the second complaint details some startling revelations involving the World Wrestling Entertainment star.

Specifically, court documents show that Astin gave Benoit a 10-month supply of steroids every three to four weeks between May 2006 and May 2007. The pro grappler was also apparently a big purchaser of steroids from a company called RX Weight Loss.

Detectives found legally obtained steroids among the prescription medication in Benoit's home. It will be at least a week before results are in from toxicology tests on the wrestler.

WWE officials, including head honcho Vince McMahan, have gone to great lengths to smack down the connection between steroids and Benoit's actions. Authorities say he strangled his 44-year-old wife, Nancy, to death the night of June 22, smothered his son, Daniel, the next day, and then hanged himself in basement gym on the 24th.

The Fayetteville Sheriff's Department and state prosecutors are overseeing the death investigation, but haven't given any indication whether they plan to file criminal charges.

But the large volume of medications prompted the Drug Enforcement Administration in Atlanta to launch its own investigation, which immediately focused on Astin's role as Benoit's physician.

Astin admitted last week that Benoit paid him shortly before the slayings. The doctor also said he had been treating the wrestler for low testosterone levels likely resulting from prior steroid use.

Federal drug agents raided the physician's Carrolton, Georgia, offices late last Wednesday and also executed a search warrant Friday evening on Astin's mother's home, where he resides. Medical records were reportedly seized, but federal officials refuse to disclose exactly what was found.

Astin's attorney, Manny Aurora, did not return phone calls seeking comment. Should Astin be convicted of the charges, the feds could seek the forfeiture of all property and profit made from the illegal activity.

Georgia authorities have also been investigating whether the Web-based MedXLife and Signature Pharmacy sold Benoit steroids, testosterone and human growth hormone over the Internet.

Prosecutors in upstate New York, who had initiated their own probe into the online drug purveyors, said that steroid shipments had indeed been sent to Benoit.

Jerry McDevitt, an attorney for the WWE, has claimed that Daniel suffered various genetic ailments and that his parents were giving him human growth hormone because they were concerned about his stunted growth. However, Nancy Benoit's parents have since disputed those assertions.

"There are additional reports that contradict the earlier information that suggested that Daniel Benoit may have suffered from Dwarf Syndrome or Fragile X Syndrome," Fayette D.A. Scott Ballard said in a statement Monday. "Daniel's family denies that he suffered from either condition.

"As a result of the family's concerns, the Fayette County Sheriff's investigators and the District Attorney's Office have inquired into this matter. A source having access to certain of Daniel's medical reports reviewed those reports, and they do not mention any pre-existing mental or physical impairment. Reports from Daniel's educators likewise contradict the claims that Daniel was physically undersized," Ballard continued.

"The educators report that Daniel graduated kindergarten and was prepared to enter the first grade on par with the other students."