CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Cole Dixon Moore, 36, of Moore, South Carolina, was sentenced yesterday to two years in prison for illegally distributing oxycodone pills, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Jae W. Chung, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Division of...

GREENSBORO – A doctor from Mt. Airy, North Carolina was sentenced to 30 months of imprisonment and ordered to pay restitution totaling $2,049,747.47 after pleading guilty to one count of health care fraud and one count of money laundering, announced Acting United States Attorney Randall S. Galyon of the Middle...

FLORENCE, S.C.— David Carlos Rodriguez, Jr., 50, of Florence, was sentenced to nearly five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to distributing Oxycodone outside the scope of medical practice and without a legitimate medical purpose. Evidence presented to the court showed that Rodriguez provided 15 prescriptions for Oxycodone over...

WASHINGTON – A federal court ordered an Elkin, North Carolina, pharmacy to pay a $500,000 penalty and enjoined the pharmacy and its pharmacists from dispensing controlled substances, including opioids, without taking steps to help ensure the drugs will not be abused or diverted. The consent decree resolves a complaint filed...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A North Carolina physician appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan C. Rodriguez this morning on charges related to the alleged unlawful distribution of a controlled substance, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. A criminal indictment charging Henry Ronald Emery, Jr...

NEW BERN, N.C. – A three-judge panel from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a unanimous, published opinion affirming former physician Jong Whan Kim’s conviction and sentence for operating a pill mill in Tabor City. The Fourth Circuit’s decision was the first published opinion by the Court upholding a...

RALEIGH, N.C. – A former Fuquay-Varina nurse was sentenced today to 48 months in prison and three years of supervised release for tampering with painkillers intended for surgery patients. On March 9, 2022, Melissa Elizabeth Chacona pled guilty to the charges. “Surgical patients trust healthcare providers to give them the...

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Savitz Drug Store, Inc., has agreed to pay $275,000 to resolve allegations that it committed recordkeeping and dispensing violations of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). These requirements are designed to prevent the diversion of controlled substances. This civil settlement includes a corrective action plan and is the...

BOSTON – Northeast Hospital Corporation (Northeast), part of Beth Israel Lahey Health, has agreed to pay $1.9 million in civil penalties to resolve allegations that Northeast violated the Controlled Substance Act (the CSA) by failing to keep accurate records of controlled substances, including opioids. The CSA requires accurate inventorying and...

BOSTON – A West Barnstable woman was sentenced on June 15, 2022 in federal court in Boston in connection with stealing hydrocodone, an opioid and Schedule II controlled substance, from the veterinary office where she worked. Melissa Paradise, 43, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to...