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Dr. Bharat Shah pleads guilty to misdemeanor in assault case

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Shah Plastic Surgery LLC owner Dr. Bharat Shah entered a guilty plea after he was charged with assault last week.

Shah pleaded guilty this week to a misdemeanor charge for assault in the fourth degree, according to Greene County Circuit Court records. Additionally, he agreed to pay $600 in restitution, serve two years of probation, conduct community service hours and complete a Substance Awareness Traffic Offender Program.

Shah, 56, originally was charged with third-degree assault, a felony, after he assaulted his Uber driver, who is deaf and mostly nonverbal, on May 7, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

The probable cause statement from the Greene County Sheriff’s Office reported Shah choked the Uber driver, identified in court records as Robert Petersen. Shah told the deputy who filed the statement that the driver was “never going to make it to where he was going” and said the driver was not exhibiting “normal behavior.”

Additionally, Shah was visibility intoxicated, according to the deputy, and reportedly threatened Petersen's life in a call to emergency services.

A request for comment to Shah’s attorneys on the guilty plea was not immediately returned by deadline.

Wampler & Passanise Law Office PC, which was hired to represent him in the case, previously released a statement to SBJ.

"Dr. Shah enjoys an excellent reputation in our community as a prominent plastic surgeon, with no prior criminal record," the statement from last week reads. "This was an unfortunate incident involving an Uber driver the other evening. There were no visible signs of injury, according to law enforcement. Dr. Shah is truly embarrassed and humbled by the attention this has brought to him and his family."

Shah opened Shah Plastic Surgery at 1530 E. Bradford Parkway last year. His practice previously operated through Mercy Clinic Plastic Surgery.

While Shaw is no longer a Mercy employee, he had maintained medical staff privileges with the health care system. Those privileges were suspended amid the criminal investigation, according to past reporting.

Reached via email this morning, Mercy spokesperson Sonya Kullmann said, "Dr. Shah’s hospital privileges will be reinstated as of Saturday, May 21. The medical staff is reviewing his behavior under the peer review process."

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