Pill Mill Doctor Pleads Guilty To Oxycodone Conspiracy
MIAMI - Mark R. Trouville, Special Agent in (SAC), Drug Enforcement (DEA), Miami Field Division, Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Michael J. DePalma, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal (IRS-CI), Miami Field Office, announced today that Dr. Scott Becker, 54, of Pembroke Pines, Florida, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and dispense large amounts of oxycodone without a legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of professional practice. Dr. Becker also pleaded guilty to money laundering and income tax evasion. Becker faces maximum terms of imprisonment of five years on the drug conspiracy charge, five years on the tax evasion charge, and ten years on the money laundering charge.
According to the terms of the plea agreement, Becker agreed to forfeit $470,400 in money and property representing the illegal narcotics proceeds he earned as a result of his involvement as a physician at All Pain Management in Dania Beach. As set forth in the plea agreement, between February 16 and September 17, 2010, Becker was employed as a clinic doctor at All Pain Management which, at the time, was owned by co-conspirators Vincent Colangelo and several other unnamed individuals. Colangelo pleaded guilty to narcotics, money laundering and federal income tax offenses on April 2, 2012, arising from his ownership of six pill mill clinics and a pharmacy in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties. According to a review of medical records, while at All Pain Management, Becker prescribed 932,259 oxycodone, 30 milligram pills during the course of 4,821 patient visits and more than 98% of Becker’s patients received prescriptions for oxycodone. Becker also laundered approximately $24,142 in illegal narcotics proceeds.
Today’s case is the result of the ongoing efforts by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task (OCDETF), a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The OCDETF mission is to identify, investigate, and prosecute high level members of drug trafficking enterprises, bringing together the combined expertise and unique abilities of federal, state and local law enforcement.
