He was convicted on multiple felony counts of illegally prescribing pain medicine and sentenced to prison.

But today, five months after jurors pronounced him guilty, Brigham City orthopedist Dewey C. MacKay remains licensed to practice medicine in the state of Utah.

Why — whether it’s due to a procedural delay or for legal or political reasons — isn’t entirely clear. The state Attorney General’s Office, which would file any request for sanctions, has been mulling the matter since MacKay’s Dec. 19 sentencing. Officials there declined to comment.

Utah’s Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing [DOPL] has placed a hold on MacKay’s license, which means the doctor can’t automatically renew it after its routine expiration date at the end of January, said division director Mark Steinegal on Monday.

The agency hopes to take further disciplinary action. Punishment sends a message and carries more weight, said Steinegal, explaining that absent some form of sanction, MacKay retains residual rights to his license for two years and could easily have it reinstated.

"This case is about as related as you can get to our practice laws. It was in the course of his practice that [MacKay] inappropriately acted, causing the death of one person," Steinegal said.

While MacKay’s attorneys insist he has retired, Steinegal said, "I don’t care whether he’s going to practice. I care whether he has the right to practice."

Whether DOPL is angling to revoke the doctor’s license, suspend it or slap probationary restrictions on it, Steinegal wouldn’t say.

While DOPL officials can recommend sanctions, it is up to the state AG to bring them before administrative law judges. Like county-level criminal prosecutors, the office has discretion over which civil penalties to pursue, he said.

MacKay’s lawyers say stripping him of his license at this point would serve no practical purpose.

MacKay was convicted by a federal jury in August after a five-week trial on 40 counts related to illegally distributing painkillers, including counts related to a man’s death.

He lost federal permission to prescribe controlled substances in 2009, a decision he fought unsuccessfully. He has not filed to renew his medical license.

"There would be no point... He has retired from the practice," said his lawyer Peter Stirba.

But the 64-year-old doctor remains free while his lawyers appeal a ruling in the case. Backed by prominent Utahns, including a legislator and congressmen who pleaded for leniency in his sentencing, MacKay is appealing his verdict, his 20-year sentence and a judge’s order that he report to prison on Feb. 1.

Should he prevail, nothing currently bars him from returning to medicine, performing surgeries and writing prescriptions for any drugs that are not controlled substances, which include painkillers.

"It’s asinine," said Tyler Wirick, the nephew of David Wirick, who died using drugs prescribed by MacKay. "What happens if he were to leave the state, all this blows over, and he heads to Missouri?"