FOUNTAIN VALLEY DOCTOR SENTENCED IN DRUG CASE

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter sentenced an Orange County physician on
Monday to more than eight years in prison for supplying a drug dealer with
drugs to make methamphetamine.

Dr. Fredesminda Yabut-Baluyut, 60, was also ordered to pay a $150,000 fine.
She was convicted of selling nearly 12 million pseudoephedrine tablets out
of her Fountain Valley home.

The pills are a cold medication. They are regulated because they contain an
ingredient used in making methamphetamine.

Yabut-Baluyut used her medical license to order the generic tablets from an
East Coast pharmaceutical company in 1997 and 1998, then supplied them to
drug dealer Joseph F. Hasrouty, Assistant U.S. Atty. Richard J. Cutler said
Wednesday.

Yabut-Baluyut received less than $100,000 from the sales.

Hasrouty, 45, of North Hollywood, pleaded guilty to possession of the
tablets in 1999 but fled before sentencing.