A tense nail-biting afternoon in federal court in Buffalo, NY, ended in joy on Friday, December 16, 2011, when District Court Judge Richard Arcara sentenced Dr. Galea to "time served," the one day of jail time that was credited to him as a consequence of his arrest. 

Galea had voluntarily surrendered to the U.S. to face charges resulting from the arrest of his assistant who had been stopped at the border with his medicine kit which contained medicines with labels not in English. He ultimately pled guilty to "misbranding" of drugs brought into the U.S.

The Toronto Globe and Mail reported as follows:

"After a 15-minute recess, Judge Arcara announced that Dr. Galea had suffered enough. It came down to a simple equation, the judge explained: "Incarceration would not outweigh the benefit of what he has to offer his patients."

As Judge Arcara retreated to his chambers, Dr. Galea turned to his American defence lawyer, Mark Mahoney, and wrapped his arms around him. His supporters, who included his parents, in-laws and sister, as well as retired hockey player Tie Domi and former Olympic hurdler Mark McKoy, grinned and formed an impromptu gauntlet as he exited the Buffalo courthouse for the last time."

As reported by the National Post:

"Suggesting that Anthony Galea was a "brilliant" and compassionate physician akin to TV's Marcus Welby, a U.S. federal court judge ruled Friday he would not send the Canadian sports doctor to prison.

Dr. Galea, who treated a Who's Who of American sports celebrities, was allowed to go free under a year's "supervision," a status similar to parole that he can spend back home in Toronto with little restriction. It was a dramatically positive end to an ordeal that has seen Dr. Galea accused, in the U.S. media at least, of being at the heart of an extensive network of professional-sports performance enhancement — doping allegations that prosecutors never levelled against him."

The enormous defense effort on behalf of Dr. Galea was a combined effort of the Buffalo law firm Harrington & Mahoney, led by Mark Mahoney, and the premier Toronto firm of Greenspan Humphrey Lavine, led by Brian Greenspan and Seth Weinstein.

See the NY Daily News article here

See the Buffalo News article here

See the National Post article and related articles  here

Sports Illustrated has a  catalog of 12 celebrated pro athletes who have gotten injuries cured by Dr. Galea, here.