A licensed pharmacist in Lutz, Florida, was involved in a conspiracy dating from at least 2007 in which hundreds of oxycodone pills were dispensed to customers passing fraudulent prescriptions and sometimes to customers who had no prescriptions at all. According to testimony and evidence at trial, customers came to the pharmacy several times a week, did not show identification, and presented prescriptions written in various different names at one time.
Starting in 2011, the pharmacist sold thousands of pills to a confidential source working with the Drug Enforcement Administration. The pharmacist instructed the source on how to write the medical information on prescriptions the pharmacist knew were fraudulent, and supplied the name and DEA registration number of a real doctor to use on them. Evidence showed the pharmacist fraudulently documented pharmacy files to represent that the prescriptions had been verified with that doctor and that the medication could be dispensed.
In all, the pharmacist was found responsible for distributing more than 50,000 oxycodone pills without a legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of professional practice. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
On August 21, 2012, a federal jury found the pharmacist guilty of one conspiracy count and five distribution counts. A federal district judge later imposed a sentence of 17 years in federal prison. The pharmacist's DEA registration number, Florida pharmacy license, $40,000 in cash and two vehicles were forfeited.