Business Wire
Melrose Psychiatrist Sentenced to Four Months’ Imprisonment for Probation Violations, Including Motor Vehicle Homicide
September 29, 1998

Sept. 29, 1998–A Melrose psychiatrist who was on federal probation for his criminal tax convictions was yesterday sentenced to four months’ imprisonment for violating the conditions of his probation.

United States Attorney Donald K. Stern announced that DR. GERD C. TESCHKE, of 466 Lebanon Street in Melrose, Massachusetts was found to have violated the conditions of his probation by committing the crime of motor vehicle homicide while on probation, as well as committing other non-criminal violations of his terms of probation. During two days of hearings before U.S. District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf, the government presented evidence proving that on March 18, 1997, TESCHKE was criminally negligent when he struck and killed a pedestrian with his car.

At the time of this accident, TESCHKE, 57, was on federal probation for his 1996 conviction of willfully failing to file his federal income tax returns. As a result of his 1996 tax conviction, which involved a total of $ 122,598 in unpaid taxes, TESCHKE was sentenced to three years’ probation, which included a six month period of home confinement.

As part of his probation, TESCHKE was prohibited from violating any federal, state or local laws.

TESCHKE violated this condition on March 18, 1997 when he failed to use reasonable care when he approached the intersections of Skillings Road and Shore Road in Winchester, the town in which TESCHKE previously resided. Specifically, the government presented evidence that TESCHKE took an illegal right turn on a red light at this intersection and that he failed to look to his right prior to making this turn. As he made this turn, TESCHKE’s car immediately struck and killed Corrine DeCicco, a 68-year-old Winchester resident who was out for her morning walk with two friends and was crossing the street in front of TESCHKE’s car. Following this accident, TESCHKE was charged by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office with negligent operation of motor vehicle and negligent operation of motor vehicle causing death, a/k/a motor vehicle homicide. In state court, TESCHKE received a suspended jail sentence after he was convicted of negligent operation of a motor vehicle, but acquitted on the motor vehicle homicide charge.

In addition to finding him guilty of motor vehicle homicide during this proceeding in federal court, Judge Wolf also found that TESCHKE failed to notify his probation officer about the auto accident, as he was required to do, and that he violated the terms of his home confinement by going out to dinner with his wife on April 2, 1997.

Under Judge Wolf’s order, once TESCHKE has completed his four months of incarceration, he will be on supervised release for an additional year. The first two months of the year of supervised release will be served in home detention with electronic monitoring.

The probation revocation proceeding was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy of Stern’s Economic Crimes Unit and TESCHKE’s initial conviction on federal tax charges was prosecuted by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark W. Pearlstein and Assistant U.S. Attorney John M. Hodgens, Jr, Chief of Stern’s Worcester Office.