Kaua'i physician Dr. Harold Spear III pleaded guilty yesterday to five federal criminal charges related to illegal narcotics prescriptions he wrote in what prosecutors called a "dial-a-doc" business.

In a plea agreement reached with the U.S. Attorney's office, Spear pleaded guilty to four counts of a multicount indictment returned against him here last year and to one criminal charge pending against him in federal court in Alabama.

Spear, 57, operated the Hanapepe Clinic on the Garden Isle.

His guilty pleas were entered before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie Kobayashi, who set sentencing for Oct. 26 before District Judge David Ezra.

He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, although his punishment is expected to be considerably less, given his lack of a prior criminal record and his agreement to enter a guilty plea.

Prosecutors alleged that Spear wrote prescriptions for controlled substances methadone and hydrocodone without meeting patients personally or conducting necessary medical examinations of them.

Yesterday, he admitted to Kobayashi that he signed blank methadone prescription forms for one patient to be filled out by his office workers because he was traveling when the patient needed more medication.

He also admitted that in the Alabama case, he prescribed hydrocodone, a powerful narcotic, after only a telephone consultation with the patient.

Spear will also forfeit money generated by his illegal activities to the government.