MARTINS FERRY — Troy Balgo, former Belmont County coroner, appeared Thursday in federal court, where his sentencing for a healthcare fraud conviction was continued.

Balgo appeared before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio as scheduled on Thursday afternoon. He had been arrested in 2019 as part of a federal drug investigation. He initially was charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with one count of healthcare fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, six counts of unlawful distribution of controlled substances and one count of conspiracy to commit the unlawful distribution of controlled substances.

Balgo’s business, Belmont Urgent Care Center’s walk-in clinic, was raided along with 12 other pain medication providers by the Appalachian Region Prescription Opioid Task Force as part of a larger operation to intervene in the alleged illegal distribution of more than 23 million pills.

Along with Balgo, local doctors Freeda Flynn of St. Clairsville and Thomas Romano of Wheeling were also arrested.

On Sept. 18, Balgo pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud as part of a plea agreement.

On Thursday, an official with the Southern District court said the substance of the sentencing hearing occurred; however, Judge Michael H. Watson did not declare what the sentence would be, allowing Balgo’s family time to take care of some matters first.

No date for further proceedings has been announced.