A licensed pharmacist operating a community pharmacy in the Orlando area was convicted by a federal jury in March 2016 of conspiracy to distribute and dispense oxycodone outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose, and of substantive counts of dispensing and distributing oxycodone on the same basis.
According to evidence presented at trial, the pharmacist dispensed more than 500,000 oxycodone pills during the timeframe of the conspiracy and collected over $1.3 million from illegal oxycodone sales. The pharmacy accepted fraudulent prescriptions from patients who had traveled long distances, often in groups, and those patients paid a premium in cash because their prescriptions were fraudulent or came from pill-mill doctors. The pharmacy led its surrounding area in oxycodone distribution, ahead of all the major retail pharmacies. Many of the pills were bought by people with addiction and by drug dealers who resold them on the street for up to $15 apiece. Trial evidence also showed the pharmacist had sex with several customers who had used fraudulent prescriptions at the pharmacy.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida.
A federal district judge sentenced the pharmacist to 24 years and 4 months in federal prison.