Prosecutors have charged the transplant surgeon, Dr. Hootan Roozrokh with attempting to hasten a disabled and brain-damaged man’s death in order to retrieve his organs sooner back in 2006.

Ruben Navarro, 25, was already near death by most accounts. However, law officials in San Luis Obispo., say Dr. Roozrokh, a 34-year-old Iranian gave inappropriate doses of drugs to the man in an effort to speed up his death in February 2006 and retrieve his organs more quickly, the officials’ report said, according to the New York Times.

Dr. Roozrokh administered Navarro large doses of morphine, anti-anxiety medicine and a topical antiseptic considered “a harmful substance that may cause death if ingested.” The patient’s death occurred eight hours later from what the coroner ruled was natural causes and his organs were unusable because they had deteriorated.

The case is thought to be the first in the country. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Wednesday, with Dr. Roozrokh facing three felony counts related to the death of Navarro. They include abuse of a medically dependent adult, mingling a harmful substance (Betadine) and prescribing a controlled substance (morphine and Ativan) without medical purpose.

Dr. Roozrokh has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer, M. Gerald Schwartzback defended him saying the charges are the result of overzealous prosecutors. “Dr. Roozrokh is a brilliant young surgeon, who has dedicated his life to saving lives,” he said.

Dr. Roozrokh could face eight years in prison if prosecutors found him guilty.