James Heaps, a former gynecologist at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has been sentenced to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to 13 felony sexual abuse charges involving five victims over a career spanning more than three decades. The sentencing follows a legal reversal: Heaps had originally received an identical sentence in 2023, but an appeals court overturned that conviction in February after finding he was denied a fair trial due to undisclosed juror concerns. Rather than face a new trial, Heaps accepted the plea deal and must also register as a sex offender for life — a outcome that attorneys for his former patients say underscores that violations of patient trust carry serious consequences. The case has already cost UCLA nearly $700 million in civil settlements to hundreds of former patients, a record payout by a US public university.