A Great Neck doctor who illegally prescribed patients pain pills was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in prison.

Eric Jacobson pleaded guilty to prescribing oxycodone and hydrocodone to 19 patients, the day after he was forced to surrender his DEA license to do so.

He also admitted for the first time on record that he prescribed painkillers to three patients he knew did not need the drugs.

He cried in open court as he was sentenced, and told the judge that he learned a painful lesson.

Jacobson's attorney pleaded with the judge to give Jacobson less than the nine-year maximum, saying Jacobson had an abusive childhood and had become dependent on alcohol around the time he illegally wrote the prescriptions.

Jacobson had previously faced charges in connection to the Medford pharmacy shooting. Officials say Jacobson was prescribing pills to David Laffer and his wife. In 2011, Laffer shot and killed four people at Haven Drugs in Medford. According to police, the shooting occurred during a robbery to fuel Laffer's drug habit.

Jacobson has already been behind bars for four years, and that will count toward his eight-year sentence. His attorney says he will likely be out of prison in a year and a half.