FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A federal judge on Wednesday imposed the maximum sentence of three years in prison for a doctor who injected himself and three others with a potentially deadly botulism toxin instead of the popular anti-wrinkle drug Botox.

After a nearly 10-hour sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge James Cohn said he found the testimony of Dr. Bach McComb's victims "compelling" and that McComb had recklessly caused harm to others.

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"The physical and mental harm caused by the defendant's actions are immeasurable," Cohn said.

One of McComb's victims, 53-year-old Eric Kaplan, testified that he considered McComb a "Dr. Frankenstein" because he seemed to be using unapproved, experimental substances on his patients without their consent.

"It was recklessness and arrogance and it could have been prevented," Kaplan said.

At times choking back tears, Kaplan said he and his wife Bonnie, who was also injected in November 2004 with what they thought was Botox, were paralyzed for weeks and nearly died. Both still suffer from numerous health problems.

"I was completely paralyzed. I couldn't open my eyes. I could hear people talking," Kaplan said. "I thought I was at my own funeral. I thought I was dead."

McComb, 48, pleaded guilty Nov. 10 to charges of providing botulinum toxin type A that was not approved for human use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Prosecutors say McComb was part of a conspiracy of doctors and companies seeking a cheaper alternative to Botox, which is manufactured by Allergan Inc.

Speaking in his own defense, McComb apologized for his actions.

"I never intended to hurt or deceive anyone," McComb said. "I wish I could turn back the clock and undo this nightmare, but of course I can't."

One key factor in Cohn's decision to impose the maximum sentence was the fact that McComb's license as an osteopathic physician was suspended when the injections were made. Dozens of McComb's patients and colleagues wrote letters to the judge supporting a light sentence, and several testified on his behalf in court Wednesday.

McComb's lawyers argued that he deserved a lenient six-month sentence or no prison time at all because he did not realize the harm the shots might do -- a contention underscored by his decision to inject himself and his then-girlfriend, Alma Hall, with the same compound.

When McComb and Hall were treated at a hospital emergency room in New Jersey for their own poisoning symptoms, McComb told a state health official there that the compound had not been properly diluted and was many times more powerful than it should have been, according to testimony Wednesday.

On Thursday, Cohn is scheduled to sentence Drs. Chad Livdahl and Zahra Karim, a husband-and-wife team who ran Toxin Research International and affiliated companies in Tucson, Ariz. Accused of promoting a poisonous Botox knockoff, the couple pleaded guilty last fall to wire and mail fraud and conspiracy charges, and each faces up to 20 years in prison.

The poisonings in Florida triggered a lengthy federal investigation into TRI over the sale of unapproved Botox knockoffs to more than 200 doctors nationwide. More than 1,000 patients were injected with it, but none of them is known to have become ill.

McComb and the other three in Florida were injected with a toxin bought straight from the manufacturer that supplied TRI, not from the company itself. But McComb's office had previously purchased the unapproved drug from TRI and had complained that it was not as effective as Botox in most patients.