9-11 doc admits illegal prescriptions

A dentist in charge of identifying victims killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by their teeth has admitted to writing illegal drug prescriptions for his girlfriend.

Jeffrey Burkes, 59, of Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J., pleaded guilty to criminal sale of a prescription for a controlled substance. In a hearing Tuesday, he said he gave Shari Perl Herman, 42, illegal prescriptions for Vicodin and other drugs.

Burkes, an oral surgeon, was chief forensic dental consultant in the city medical examiner's office, but an office spokesman said Burkes went on unpaid leave when he was arrested in November 2006.

Sentencing was set for Jan. 23. State Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro told Burkes he would be sentenced to five years' probation and 150 hours of community service, and must have psychiatric exams twice a year.

Had he been convicted at trial, Burkes could have faced as many as 15 years in prison.

The state licensing board will review his right to practice medicine, said Barbara Thompson of the Manhattan prosecutor's office.