A Mililani dentist accused of acquiring painkillers from prescriptions he gave patients has pleaded no contest to charges in Circuit Court.

Jay Adam Cambra, 40, pleaded no contest yesterday to 11 charges of failing to keep records of prescription to patients and obtaining a controlled substance by fraud. He also pleaded no contest to petty misdemeanor drug promotion for a bag of marijuana that state drug enforcement officers found in a raid of his office in December.

Cambra faces a maximum five-year prison term and $10,000 fine for each of the 11 felony drug charges when a judge sentences him in February. However, Cambra has asked state Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario to defer accepting his pleas to give him the opportunity to eventually clear the convictions from his record.

Cambra entered the no- contest pleas without any agreement with the state regarding sentencing.

Deputy Prosecutor Sean Sanada said he hasn't decided what sentence he will recommend.

“;This case goes to show that it doesn't matter who you are, drugs - whether they are illegal or they are prescription drugs - they can affect anyone. And they can affect them very detrimentally,”; Sanada said.

The state Narcotics Enforcement Division started investigating Cambra in 2006 after it received a call from a pharmacist in Mililani. The pharmacist reported Cambra had been frequently prescribing larger- than-normal quantities of pain medication to several of his patients without prescribing other medications like antibiotics or anti-inflammatory drugs.

When contacted by state investigators, one of the patients said he picked up the prescriptions and gave them to Cambra. The patient also agreed to cooperate with investigators and wore a concealed recording device during two meetings with the dentist.