United States Drug Enforcement Administration

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...

SAVANNAH, GA: A physician who operates weight-loss clinics in the Savannah area has agreed to pay civil penalties and to accept increased oversight to resolve allegations that he violated the Controlled Substances Act. Dr. Donald Lyle Gates, who operates three Savannah-area Scale Solutions clinics, reached a settlement with the Southern...

NEWARK, N.J. – A pharmaceutical manufacturer agreed to pay $2.25 million to resolve allegations that it violated the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), DEA New Jersey Field Division Special Agent in Charge Cheryl Ortiz and U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today The manufacturer, Novel Laboratories Inc. (Novel), a subsidiary of...

NEWARK, N.J. – The owner of a New Jersey company today admitted mislabeling hazardous chemicals entering the United States and evading customs duties, DEA New Jersey Field Division Special Agent in Charge Cheryl Ortiz and U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today. George Volpe, 60, of Roseland, New Jersey, owner...

NEWARK, N.J. – A Passaic County, New Jersey, doctor was charged with conspiring to distribute opioids without a legitimate medical reason, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) New Jersey Field Division Cheryl Ortiz and U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced. Lisa Ferraro, 65, of Hillsdale, New...

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...

NEWARK, N.J. – Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) New Jersey Division Cheryl Ortiz and Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced that on July 25, 2023, Maria F. Macburnie, aka Marife L. Macburnie, 62, of Toms River, was charged with Practicing Medicine by an Unlicensed...

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...

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Dr. Mark S.T. Armitage, a physician practicing with Pelican Family Medicine in Wilmington, North Carolina, agreed to pay $170,000 to resolve alleged violations of the Controlled Substances Act. Dr. Armitage, who previously surrendered his Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration to prescribe controlled substances, further agreed not to...

CAMDEN, N.J. – A Gloucester County, New Jersey, man today admitted defrauding his employer’s health insurance plan out of more than $4 million by submitting fraudulent claims for medically unnecessary compounded medications, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division Cheryl Ortiz and Attorney for the...