Michael Lohan told Newsday he pleaded guilty to avoid an...

Michael Lohan told Newsday he pleaded guilty to avoid an expensive trial. Credit: AP / Richard Drew

Michael Lohan, father of Long Island-raised actor-entrepreneur Lindsay Lohan, says he pleaded guilty to a patient-brokering charge to avoid an expensive trial, despite having taken polygraph and voice-stress tests he believes vindicated him.

"I took this plea to avoid dragging this out in a trial that would've cost over $100,000," he told Newsday on Thursday, a day after a judge in Palm Beach County, Florida, sentenced him to 4 years' probation and a $52,500 fine following his guilty plea to five counts of accepting payment for steering patients to a rehab clinic. The Palm Beach Post reported on his April 2021 arrest and Wednesday's sentencing.

Michael Lohan, 62, who now lives in the Houston area, says that at the time he was working on salary at Pride Recovery Center in Delray Beach, Florida, and referred patients as part of his job without receiving specific payments for that. He provided Newsday with the results of a September 2021 polygraph test that states "no significant reactions" to relevant questions about patient brokering, and a voice-stress test the same month that lists "no deception indicated."

The Florida State Attorney in Palm Beach County did not respond to a Newsday request for comment.

Under state law, any commission, bonus or bribe for patient referral is illegal. Lohan was arrested April 23, 2021, with authorities saying he and his business entity, Lola Recovery Ventures LLC, together were paid more than $27,000 in kickbacks. Two other men associated with Pride Recovery were arrested on patient-brokering charges in March 2019. Lola Recovery Ventures, formed in May 2017, was dissolved in September 2019, said The Palm Beach Post, citing state records.

Conditions of the probation include Lohan having no affiliation with rehabilitation or recovery facilities, or clinical testing laboratories.

"I've been helping people with addiction issues for over 10 years and referred hundreds of people to detoxes and treatment centers, and did interventions for nothing," Lohan maintains. "So why after over 10 years now?" He added, "I have faith in God but my faith in this system is destroyed."

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 27: In this handout photo...

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 27: In this handout photo provided by A.M.P.A.S., Beyoncé performs during the ABC telecast of the 94th Oscars® on Sunday, March 27, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mason Poole/A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images) Credit: A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images/Handout

Lohan and his ex-wife, Dina Lohan, of North Merrick, are the parents of Lindsay and her younger siblings, Michael Jr., Ali and Dakota. In November 2012, a DNA test confirmed Michael Lohan also is the father of then 17-year-old Ashley Horn, his daughter from a 1990s relationship with Kristi Horn. He married Kate Major in 2014, with her filing for separation the following year and for divorce in 2018. They have two sons, Landon, 9, and Logan, 7.

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