West Portsmouth Couple Sentenced For Operating “Pill Mill” In Waverly

CINCINNATI - Nancy Sadler, 49, of West Portsmouth, Ohio was sentenced to 210 months in federal prison for operating Ohio Medical and Pain Management, LLC, a “pill mill” in Waverly, Ohio. Her husband, Lester, aka “Ape”, Sadler, 56, was sentenced to 151 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. 

Robert L. Corso, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement (DEA), Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Edward J. Hanko, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of (FBI), Waverly Police Chief Larry Roe, and Scioto County Sheriff Marty Donini announced the sentences imposed by Senior U.S. District Judge Sandra S. Beckwith. Lester Sadler was sentenced December 3. Nancy Sadler was sentenced December 4.

“The crimes committed caused and enabled countless drug addictions throughout the Portsmouth area, which created innumerable other social problems for the ‘patients’ and their families,” U.S. Attorney Stewart said. “For many years, the clinic operated by the Sadlers was one of the primary sources for illegally-distributed pain pills in that region. Considering the scope of the prescription pill problem in Southern Ohio and the role that Nancy Sadler has played in that epidemic for the better part of a decade, a substantial sentence reflects the seriousness of the crime and can help deter others from engaging in this activity.”

Following a ten-day trial in May, a jury convicted the Sadlers of engaging in a conspiracy to divert controlled (namely, addictive prescription pain medications), maintaining premises for such illegal distribution, wire fraud to obtain pills directly from distributors, and structuring financial transactions with the proceeds of their drug dealing. The Sadlers have been in custody since the jury convicted them.

“Nancy Sadler was the founder, manager, and driving force behind a pain clinic that sold pain pill prescriptions to addicts for years,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Mangan wrote in a document filed with the court prior to sentencing. “She also orchestrated the fraudulent purchase and resale of these drugs on the street.”

Lester Sadler was listed as the owner of the clinic. Nancy Sadler was prohibited from owning the clinic because of a prior wire fraud conviction in connection with a Kentucky pain clinic.

The Sadlers have been in custody since their conviction in May.

Judge Beckwith also approved a personal money judgment of $1.8 million against the Sadlers. The amount was based on trial testimony indicating that the Sadlers were making $900,000 a year at the clinic.

Three others charged with the Sadlers have been sentenced. Lisa Clevenger, 50, of Stoutsville and a sister of Nancy Sadler, pleaded guilty on February 29, 2012 to one count of maintaining drug-involved premises and was sentenced on November 27, 2012 to two years’ probation which includes the first eight months in home confinement. Lester Sadler’s father, James Sadler, 80, of West Portsmouth, pleaded guilty on December 20, 2011 to one count of conspiracy and was sentenced on November 26 to one day in prison with credit for time served and two years of supervised release. Brenda Banks, 59, of Columbus, Ohio, formerly a physician at the clinic, pleaded guilty on April 30, 2012 to one count of acquiring or possessing a controlled substance through deception. She was sentenced today to 48 months in prison, the maximum allowed under law, followed by one year of supervised release.

Stewart commended the agencies that are participating in the ongoing investigation including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy, Pike and Scioto county sheriffs’ offices in Ohio,  Portsmouth Police Department, the Lewis and Greenup county sheriff’s offices in Kentucky, the Russell, Kentucky Police Department, the Kentucky Department of Public Health, Drug Control and Professional Practices, and the Kentucky State Police. Stewart also commended Cincinnati-based Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tim Mangan and Tim Oakley, who prosecuted the case.