A court in Munich on Friday sentenced a German doctor at the center of an international blood-doping scandalto 4 years 10 months in prison.

Dr. Mark S. was also given an additional ban from practicing medicine for a further three years after being found guilty of masterminding the doping ring between 2012 and 2019.

The court also found his four accomplices guilty in the first big trial since doping became a criminal offense in Germany in 2015.

The main accomplice was sentenced to 2 years 4 months behind bars, a nurse got a suspended sentence of 1 year 4 months, and the other two were fined.

The 42-year-old was convicted for doping athletes between 2011 and 2019.

His patients included competitors at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, world championship events and cycling's Tour de France. He was convicted of violating pharmaceutical and doping laws, including one count of grievous injury. 

Drug 'not meant for humans'

The court heard that the doctor had given doping transfusions to several athletes for years.

In one case, he administered a drug to an Austrian mountain biker that was not approved for use in humans.

Mark S. confessed to the crimes in a written statement read by his lawyers in court last week

"I took a wrong turn and have myself to blame," he admitted.

Mark S. was detained in February 2019 as part of Operation Aderlass following raids on his home in Erfurt, Germany, and at the Nordic skiing world championships in Seefeld, Austria.

German sports officials and anti-doping campaigners hope that the convictions will be a deterrent to athletes and other medical workers.

Some of the athletes involved in the ring have been also charged and convicted separately in their home countries.

Austrian professional cyclist Georg Preidler received a jail sentence this week as a result of his collaboration with Mark S.

mm/rt (AFP, dpa)