An Oakland County doctor who sexually assaulted players on youth hockey teams was sentenced to at least the next decade behind bars.
Dr. Zvi Levran, 68, pleaded no contest in March to 28 counts in four cases in Oakland County Circuit Court, according to the county prosecutor’s office. He was sentenced April 29 to 10-15 years on the bulk of the charges, with one charge up to a 25-year sentence, said Jeff Wattrick, spokesman for the office.
The sentences are concurrent, Wattrick said, and Levran will have lifetime monitoring and lifetime registration on the state’s sex offender registry. Levran received credit for time served, according to online court records.
“Zvi Levran exploited his position as a trusted caregiver to abuse patients, including children. He now will be made to account for his crimes,” Prosecutor Karen McDonald said in a release. “It’s never easy for sexual abuse victims to tell their stories. The courage of the victims who came forward against Levran helped prevent this predator from abusing future victims. Our community is safer because of their bravery.”
The judge exceeded the sentence guidelines and gave Levran the maximum sentence under state law on almost all of the charges, according to the news release.
The sentence came after three victims gave statements in court about the trauma they endured, it indicates, with the judge characterizing Levran’s behavior as “sociopathic.” The prosecutor’s office indicated the judge found Levran “unrepentant as she delivered the sentence.”
Levran’s attorney, Jonathan Jones, told the Free Press after the sentencing: “I hope all of the victims, especially those who appeared in court, can get better and find peace, and over time experience less pain.”
Jones said he and his client knew what the guidelines were and what happened in court was not a surprise. He said the “hope and goal was that this is not a life sentence. This was something that we tried to avoid.”
“I spent a significant amount of time with him and his family from the period I was involved through today to find the most manageable outcome I could for him,” Jones said of Levran.
Levran pleaded to the charges of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct; third-degree criminal sexual conduct; second-degree criminal sexual conduct; child sexually abusive material, and child sexually abusive commercial activity, according to the prosecutor’s office.
The majority of the pleas stem from incidents of sexually abusing teenage boys, many whom Levran met while providing medical assistance to youth hockey teams, prosecutors said.
They said he was first charged in 2022 for sexually assaulting a 19-year-old man during a medical examination.
Levran, a urologist who had offices in Farmington Hills and West Bloomfield, was first charged in October 2022, according to prior Free Press reporting.
Shortly thereafter, additional charges were filed involving more victims. The prosecutor’s office indicated the multiple other victims were primarily young men and boys.
In a statement in 2022, Farmington Hills police indicated Levran had provided medical assistance to youth hockey organizations in Michigan and Minnesota for the past 20 years.
Levran has been held in the Oakland County Jail, where he was booked in November 2022, according to online jail records. He posted bond after he was first charged in October 2022. A month later, he was back in custody after investigators heard from tipsters around the country, and he faced additional charges.
Authorities previously said incidents occurred in his home office in Farmington Hills and a medical office in Farmington, with some incidents dating to 2018, according to prior Free Press reporting.
His license as a medical doctor is suspended, according to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.
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