A Santa Barbara doctor accused of overprescribing prescription drugs may not go to trial until this fall.

Dr. Julio Diaz, 63, faces a federal criminal complaint of distribution of controlled substances outside the scope of professional practice and without legitimate medical purpose.

Diaz pleaded not guilty in federal court in January to 12 counts of overprescribing prescription drugs, but his court trial has been continued until Nov. 27, prosecutor Ann Wolf told Noozhawk. In the meantime, Diaz is being held without bail.

He was arrested Jan. 4 at his home in the 400 block of Cannon Green Drive in Goleta, and Drug Enforcement Administration agents then drove him to his office at the Family Care Clinic, 510 N. Milpas St. in Santa Barbara.

A grand jury issued an eight-page indictment against Diaz, listing 12 counts of acting outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose, knowingly and intentionally distributed controlled substances — four counts of which say he dispensed those substances to a patient younger than age 21.

If convicted, Diaz faces a total sentence of 300 years — 20 years for each of the seven counts of distribution, and 40 years for each of the four distribution counts to people younger than age 21.

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— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.