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Wednesday, June 9, 2021
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Thursday, June 3, 2021
Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Northern District of Texas
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 3, 2021
Oncologist Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison in Pill Mill Conspiracy
An oncologist has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for running a pill mill, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah.
Arrested in DEA Dallas’ “Operation Wasted Daze,” Dr. Caesar Mark Capistrano, 61, was convicted at trial in January three counts of conspiracy to dispense a controlled substance and two counts of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. He was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor.
“Doctors who run pill mills knowingly profit off of vulnerable people’s addictions,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah. “The Justice Department is determined to prosecute doctors who funnel powerful prescription drugs onto our streets. We will do everything within our power to curb the opioid epidemic.”
“Using one’s trusted status as a medical professional for unlawful acts cannot go unpunished,” stated Eduardo A. Chávez, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Dallas Field Division. “The Dallas DEA will always seek justice against those who take advantage of individuals, especially ones who suffer from addiction.”
According to evidence presented at three different trials conducted in early 2021, Dr. Capistrano and his associate, 36-year-old Dr. Tameka Lachelle Noel, wrote prescriptions for hydrocodone, oxycodone, alprazolam, carisoprodol, zolpidem, phentermine, and promethazine with codeine, knowing the drugs would be diverted to the streets for illicit use.
Dr. Capistrano and Dr. Noel, assisted by 48-year-old clinic manager Shirley Ann Williams, used a network of recruiters to enlist individuals from the community and local homeless shelters to pose as “patients.” Recruiters paid each “patient” a small fee, usually $50 to $200 cash, to obtain controlled substance prescriptions from Dr. Capistrano and Dr. Noel.
The recruiters – who paid the clinic based in part on the amount of drugs prescribed – then filled the prescriptions at various complicit pill mill pharmacies and diverted the drugs for resale on the streets. The pharmacists charged the recruiters between $200 and $800 per prescription, filling hundreds and hundreds of prescriptions for a fee, according to evidence presented at trial.
At the clinic, many of the “patients” were seen not by the doctors, but by Ms. Williams, who possessed neither a medical license nor a DEA registration. After a perfunctory conversation with the “patient,” Ms. Williams allegedly coordinated with Dr. Capistrano and Dr. Noel to prescribe dangerous drugs without legitimate medical purpose. In order to make the prescriptions appear legitimate, the doctors occasionally included prescriptions for non-controlled substances, such as antibiotics and mineral ice.
Over a nine-year span, Dr. Capistrano issued prescriptions for more than 524,000 doses of hydrocodone, 430,000 doses of carisoprodol, 77,000 doses of alprazolam, and 2.07 million doses of promethazine with codeine. Over seven years, Dr. Noel issued prescriptions for more than 200,000 doses of hydrocodone, 55,000 doses of carisoprodol, 14,000 doses of alprazolam, and 450,000 doses of promethazine with codeine.
Often, the doctors prescribed multiple medications simultaneously and at the highest dosages available.
Medical professionals convicted in the scheme include:
- Caesar Mark Capistrano, medical doctor
Convicted at trial on 1/28/2021 of three counts of conspiracy to dispense a controlled substance and two counts of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison
- Tameka Lachelle Noel, medical doctor
Pleaded guilty on 11/16/2020 to conspiracy to dispense a controlled substance and was sentenced to eight years federal prison
- Ngozika Tracey Njoku, nurse practitioner
Pleaded guilty on 11/20/2020 to conspiracy to dispense a controlled substance and was sentenced to six months in federal prison
Clinic staff convicted in the scheme include:
- Shirley Ann Williams, clinic office manager
Pleaded guilty on 11/18/2020 to conspiracy to disperse a controlled substance and was sentenced to six years in federal prison
- Latonya Ann Tucker, office staff
Pleaded guilty on 11/20/2020 to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and was sentenced to five years federal prison
Pharmacists convicted in the scheme include:
- Wilkinson Oloyede Thomas, Calvary Pharmacy
Convicted at trial on 1/28/2021 of three counts of conspiracy to dispense controlled substances and one count of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances
- Christopher Kalejaiye Ajayi, Remcare Pharmacy
Convicted at trial on 3/2/2021 of three counts of conspiracy to dispense controlled substances, and two counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances
- Bartholomew Anny Akubukwe, Beco Pharmacy
Pleaded guilty on 11/18/2020 to conspiracy to dispense a controlled substance and was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison
- Nedal Helmi Naser, Brandy Pharmacy
Pleaded guilty on 3/16/2021 to conspiracy to dispense a controlled substance
- Ethel Oyekunle-Bubu, Ethel’s Pharmacy
Convicted at trial on 1/28/2021 of three counts of conspiracy to dispense a controlled substance and two counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances
Recruiters convicted in the scheme include:
- Ritchie Dale Milligan, Jr
Pleaded guilty on 11/18/2020 to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and was sentenced to eight years federal prison
- Wayne Benard Kincade
Pleaded guilty on 11/16/2020 to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance
- Katie Lorane Parker
Pleaded guilty on 11/16/2020 to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and was sentenced to four years in federal prison
- Cynthia Denise Cooks
Pleaded guilty on 11/25/2020 to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and was sentenced to five years federal prison
The DEA Dallas Field Division’s Fort Worth Office conducted the investigation, with the assistance of Homeland Security Investigations, IRS – Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Parker County Sheriff’s Office, and the Fort Worth Police Department. The DEA’s Fort Worth Tactical Diversion Squad is comprised of DEA agents and task force officers from the Arlington Police Department, the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office, the North Richland Hills Police Department, the Benbrook Police Department, the Granbury Police Department, the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, and the Parker County Sheriff’s Office. This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Laura Montes and Shawn Smith are prosecuting the case.
Topic(s):
Prescription Drugs
Contact:
Erin Dooley
Public Affairs Officer
214-659-8707
erin.dooley@usdoj.gov
NY pharmacists call for passage of bills to ‘save’ their businesses
NY pharmacists call for passage of bills to ‘save’ their businesses: Pharmacists and elected officials rallied outside the state capitol Wednesday, urging lawmakers to pass bills they say would save New York’s independent pharmacies. Opponents of the legislation cla…
Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of Florida
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 28, 2021
Georgia Man Sentenced to 135 Months’ Imprisonment for Role in Health Care Fraud Scheme Against Tricare
Miami, Florida -- A Georgia man was sentenced yesterday to over 11 years in federal prison for defrauding Tricare of approximately $12 million through a South Florida compounding pharmacy fraud scheme. Tricare is the health care benefit program covering military personnel and their dependents.
According to court documents, 51-year-old Erik Santos and his co-conspirators ran the scheme as follows: Santos paid recruiters to convince Tricare beneficiaries to fill prescriptions for expensive, supposedly tailor-made, compounded medications that the beneficiaries did not need. Santos paid doctors to approve pre-printed prescriptions for large amounts of these medications. The doctors did not see the beneficiaries or otherwise consider their medical needs before approving the prescriptions. Lastly, Santos steered the Tricare beneficiaries to fill their prescriptions with Patient Care America (PCA), a compounding pharmacy located in Broward County, Florida. PCA would bill Tricare for expensive drug formulations that had little to no therapeutic value. Many of the compounded medications were billed to Tricare at $10,000 to $15,000 for a month’s supply, even though the ingredients used in the mixtures were little more than common pain or scar creams. Santos’s fraudulent referrals caused an actual loss to the Tricare program of approximately $12 million. PCA pharmacy paid Santos over $7 million in prescription referral kickbacks.
In addition to the prison sentence, the Court imposed restitution in the amount of $11.8 million and entered a forfeiture judgement of approximately $7.6 million. On January 27, 2021, Santos pled guilty in federal district court in Ft. Lauderdale to one count of conspiring to commit health care fraud and wire fraud.
Acting U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez of the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Cynthia A. Bruce of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Southeast Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of FBI Miami announced the sentence.
“Criminals steal exorbitant amounts of money from our government health programs through prescription medication fraud schemes. This significant sentence recognizes the seriousness of the crime,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Gonzalez. “Those who use kickbacks and other illegal activity to bilk taxpayer dollars from vital public programs will be held accountable.”
“Billing healthcare programs for medically unnecessary medications not only undermines the viability of those programs, it exploits all citizens,” said DCIS Special Agent in Charge Bruce. “I am pleased with the significant outcome of this investigation and would like to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the investigative team for their tireless effort and great work to hold accountable those who fraudulently bill the Defense Health Agency.”
“Illegal kickbacks undermined the integrity of the Tricare health benefit program by putting profits in front of patient welfare,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Piro. “The investigators who unraveled this scam are to be commended for their diligence and commitment. The FBI and our partners will continue to pursue those individuals who pay kickbacks and fraudulently bill for medical services that are not necessary.”
DCIS investigated the case with assistance from FBI Miami, and the Food and Drug Administration-Office of Criminal Investigation. The superseding indictment also named CHAMPVA (the Department of Veterans Affairs’ version of Tricare) as a fraud target and the Department of Veterans Affairs-Office of Inspector General assisted with the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jon Juenger prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daren Grove is handling the asset forfeiture component of the case.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 20-cr-60089.
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Topic(s):
Health Care Fraud
Component(s):
Contact:
Marlene Rodriguez
Special Counsel to the U.S. Attorney
Public Affairs Officer
USAFLS.News@usdoj.gov
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