Doctor Sentenced For His Role In Operation Of Pill Mill
APR 24 (MIAMI) - Mark R. Trouville, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement (DEA), Miami Field Division, Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kathryn Keneally, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division, and Jose A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal (IRS-CI), Miami Field Office, announce that Dr. Stephen Anthony, 65, formerly of Davie, was sentenced yesterday to 70 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. In addition, Dr. Anthony was ordered to pay $552,000 in restitution. Dr. Anthony previously pled guilty to conspiring to distribute and dispense large amounts of oxycodone without a legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of professional practice. In addition, Dr. Anthony pleaded guilty to money laundering and income tax evasion.
According to court documents, Anthony agreed to forfeit $338,300 in money and property representing the illegal narcotics proceeds he earned as a result of his involvement as a physician at Broward Urgent Care in Fort Lauderdale. As set forth in the plea agreement, between April 2010 and February 2011, Anthony was employed as a clinic doctor at Broward Urgent Care which, at the time, was owned by co-conspirators, Vincent Colangelo and Nicholaus Thomas. 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 pharmacies in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties. Thomas pled guilty on November 18, 2011 to narcotics and money laundering charges. Colangelo and Thomas sold Broward Urgent Care to Anthony after the Florida legislature enacted legislation in October 2010 requiring that pain management clinics be owned by licensed physicians. According to a review of medical records, while at Broward Urgent Care, Anthony wrote 12,510 prescriptions for oxycodone and 5,776 prescriptions for Xanax, and more than 99% of Anthony’s patients received prescriptions for oxycodone. In total, Anthony prescribed 42,374,370 milligrams of oxycodone during the ten months he worked as a physician at Broward Urgent Care.
According to the plea agreement, between 2000 and 2007, Anthony evaded the payment of approximately $556,262 in individual income and employment taxes. Anthony evaded taxes by depositing monies into a bank account in the name of a third party. Instead of paying taxes, Anthony purchased thousands of dollars in personal items including jewelry and automobiles.
