Licensed revoked for former Evansville addiction counselor
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The Indiana Behavioral Health and Human Services Licensing Board has revoked the professional license of an Evansville addiction counselor convicted of illegally dealing drugs to his patients.
Michael Hagedorn in May was sentenced to 16 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to felony charges of methamphetamine dealing and dealing in a narcotic drug.
Authorities said Hagedorn, who owned Now Counseling, sold narcotics to his patients, according to the administrative complaint to revoke his license. A search of his home revealed nine firearms, body armor, about 28 grams of marijuana, three digital scales and a handwritten ledger, the complaint says.
“Here we have a licensee who used his vulnerable patients for his own financial gain by feeding rather than treating their drug habits,” Indiana Attorney General Rokita said in a news release announcing the revocation of Hagedorn’s professional license. “There is no world in which such a person deserves to work in the mental health and addiction field and thankfully they never will be able to again. We will continue standing up for vulnerable Hoosiers.”
Hagedorn also was initially charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, a Level 4 felony, before pleading guilty to the two Level 2 felonies, the complaint said.
“Beyond the debt he is paying to society through the criminal justice system, this individual must also be kept far away from credentials that would enable him again to abuse patients from a position of trust,” Rokita said.