Doctor Pleads Guilty In White Plains Federal Court To Illegal Distribution Of Oxycodone
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - Brian R. Crowell, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA), Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced today that Felix Rodriguez, a licensed medical doctor, pled guilty to a one-count Information charging Rodriguez with distribution of more than 1,000 pills of Oxycodone, a Schedule II controlled substance. Rodriguez pled guilty today in White Plains federal court before U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Karas, who set a sentencing date for May 20, 2013.
DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian R. Crowell stated: “Felix Rodriguez should not be called a doctor by his peers or patients for illegally distributing prescriptions for pain killers to individuals he never examined. Rodriguez made a deal with the devil and profited by the sale of powerful pain medication for illegitimate use. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention painkillers now take the lives of more Americans than heroin and cocaine combined, and since 2008 drug-induced deaths have outstripped those from traffic accidents. Federal, State and Local law enforcement will not tolerate any illegal drug distribution that puts our community in peril.”
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated: “This doctor took an oath to do no harm and then violated his oath by using his position of trust to distribute Oxycodone outside the scope of his professional medical practice. The abuse of diverted prescription pain medication is the fastest growing drug problem in our country. We will continue to work with federal, state, and local law enforcement organizations to identify and investigate those responsible at all levels.”
According to the allegations in the Complaint and Information filed in White Plains federal court: From May 2010 through February 2011, Felix Rodriguez, a doctor who worked out of a medical office in Manhattan, provided Oxycodone prescriptions to individuals who he had never met or examined. When Rodriguez wrote these prescriptions, he knew that by doing so he was violating the law and generally accepted medical practice. Oxycodone is a powerful painkiller with a high potential for addiction and abuse. FELIX RODRIGUEZ, 52, of Bronx, New York, is a medical doctor who practiced in Manhattan, New York. Rodriguez faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.
Mr. Bharara praised the efforts of the DEA’s New York City Tactical Diversion Squad; comprised of agents and officers from the DEA, the New York City Police Department, the New York State Department of Financial Services and the Westchester County Department of Public Safety. He also praised the assistance of the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Marshals Service, the New York State Police, the Yonkers Police Department, and Mount Vernon Police Department in this case.
This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division
