Louis Hampers: No bail yet for controversial doc charged with writing fake prescriptions

Louis Hampers.

At a 2 p.m. hearing, Magistrate Judge Kathleen Tafoya denied him bail.

Instead, Tafoya set a detention hearing for Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. in U.S. District Court in Denver, at which time Hampers and his attorney will be allowed to argue for bond. Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Holloway, who is prosecuting the case, requested that Hampers be detained without bond.

Hampers faces 655 federal charges, each of which carries up to a four-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine. He is accused of using five phony patient aliases and the identities of three real people to pick up prescriptions he'd written for drugs such as generic Vicodin, Valium, Ambien and Ritalin at pharmacies in and around Denver.

Hampers is also wanted on two warrants out of the Denver Police Department for harassment and witness intimidation. The warrants are likely related to two previous restraining order cases, the details of which were explained in our recent story, "When This Physician Gets the Fever, it's the Women He Dates Who Can't Shake the Bug."

One woman who won a restraining order against him, 9News investigative reporter Deborah Sherman, is suing Hampers in civil court for emotional distress and defamation, among other charges. Sherman and Hampers met on an adult dating website and went on one date. When Sherman broke it off, Hampers harassed her for months.

Hampers' court appearance today was brief. He wore a yellow jumpsuit with the words "JCSO JAIL" on the back. The only words he uttered were, "Yes, I do," when the judge asked whether he understood the charges and penalties he faces. It appeared that most of the spectators at the hearing were members of the local media.

Hampers, who was the head of emergency medicine at The Children's Hospital in Aurora until he took a voluntary paid sick leave in April, is also being investigated by the Colorado Medical Board. Prior to his arrest, he agreed to temporarily forfeit his medical license.