Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," probably could not have drawn two more starkly different portraits of a Layton doctor who was sentenced to prison Wednesday.

Paul Ray Taylor, 64, earlier pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of oxycodone as part of a plea bargain.

His defense attorney, many former patients and his wife painted him as a caring and compassionate doctor who led an exemplary life filled with good deeds and service except for one troubled period when he was separated from his wife, lost a job and was beset with health problems.

But prosecutors spoke of a "dark and sinister side" of Taylor who got patients hooked on drugs so he could lure them to a new clinic of his own, may have used his access to drugs to sexually misbehave with female patients and might even have contributed to fatal overdoses.

After an unusual four-hour hearing in a packed courtroom, U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups sentenced Taylor to seven years in federal prison, with credit for 19 months spent in a local jail or, more recently, in home confinement. The judge permitted Taylor to continue with home confinement until he reports to prison on Jan. 11, 2010, so Taylor will have time to get medical care for vision and other problems caused by diabetes and to get his financial affairs in order.

The sentence was a departure from a federal guideline of between nine and 11 years.

After hearing repeated descriptions of Taylor as either a monster or a saint, Waddoups at one point stated, "It's difficult to know who Dr. Taylor is."

Taylor originally was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of distribution of oxycodone in connection with activities that occurred between June 7 and Oct. 30, 2007. Prosecutors said Taylor was not affiliated with a medical facility then and was dispensing prescriptions or drugs out of his vehicle in parking lots, in building lobbies and in patients' homes.

Assistant U.S. attorney Robert Lund said Taylor was taped by an informant not only prescribing drugs for her but also for an aunt who was not present because she didn't exist — with Taylor admitting that doing this was a felony. "Whatever laudable acts he did in his lifetime, they don't undo what he did," Lund said.

Mary Hazard told the judge that her son, Scott, 23, went to Taylor as a patient every week or 10 days to get painkillers and ended up with so many pills that he made money selling the excess. Scott Hazard died of a drug overdose on Christmas Eve 2007 and his mother blames Taylor.

"He made available these vast quantities of painkillers so Scott's addiction would grow," Hazard said. "He contributed to this senseless suffering and loss of life."