MIAMI — A clinical psychologist pleaded guilty Tuesday to manslaughter for supplying his young lover -- a one-time patient -- a lethal dose of painkillers and then failing to call 911 as she lay dying on his bed.
Adam Feder, 42, will serve six years in prison for manslaughter and illegal trafficking of the addictive painkiller Oxycodone. After that, Feder will serve four years of probation and 384 hours of community service, according to his plea deal.
"It's a good resolution because Mr. Feder accepts responsibility for Rachel's death. He forfeits his license to practice psychology and pays for his crime in prison,'' said Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney Tim Vandergeisen.
In 2004, waitress and aspiring model Rachel Finzi, 18, turned to Feder, then 38, for counseling after her high school boyfriend fell into a coma after a traffic accident. Feder, also a substance abuse counselor, began sleeping with the emotionally unstable teen.
"He just violated every imaginable moral, ethical and administrative rules that exist,'' Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle said. "She was 19 years old and she went to him to seek counseling. You had someone that was very vulnerable.''
As their relationship ended two years later, Miami-Dade police said, Feder gave her a dosage of the painkiller that amounted to 100 times the safe dosage of the medication.
She lay on his bed for more than 24 hours before he called 911 for help, according to prosecutors. Finzi's death was initially ruled a suicide.
Feder was also facing extensive drug trafficking charges. Psychologists cannot write prescriptions but police said he illegally used doctors' prescription pads to obtain the drugs.
Feder could have faced up to 135 years in prison.
"This resolution allows everyone to try and put this behind them. Adam took responsibility for what happened and he is remorseful,'' said Brian Tannebaum, Feder's attorney.
The Finzi family is suing Feder and Compass Health Systems, the clinic where the psychologist met the teen.
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