2 years probation for Fla. doctor who hid bullet

[August 18, 2009]  TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- A Tampa doctor has received two years probation after pleading no contest to charges he lied to investigators and kept a bullet removed from a fugitive shot by U.S. Marshals.

David J. Ciesla didn't speak with reporters Monday after a judge withheld adjudication, and the lawyer for the trauma head at Tampa General Hospital would only say his client apologized and wanted to move on.

A medical student reported Ciesla after both saw the .40-caliber bullet in an April surgery. The student said Ciesla told him he didn't see anything, slipped the slug in a surgical glove and lied to waiting investigators.

Ciesla was charged with giving false statements to officers and obstructing without violence.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.