United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SANTA ANA, Calif. - A woman who operated four medical clinics in Reseda and Northridge was sentenced today to 14 years in federal prison for distributing the powerful and widely abused prescription narcotic oxycodone.

Anush Davtyan, 53, of Encino, was sentenced by United States District Judge David O. Carter after she pleaded guilty last September to one count of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone.

In a plea agreement filed with the court, Davtyan admitted that she and her common-law husband operated four clinics where people could purchase oxycodone prescriptions for cash following a medical exam.  Oxycodone is sold under brand names such as Oxycontin, Percocet and Percodan.

Davtyan admitted that she had bribed pharmacists to fill the large number of oxycodone prescriptions generated by her clinics.  In one exchange recorded by investigators, Davtyan and her husband brought a pharmacist flowers and cognac and then explained to the pharmacist how the prescriptions would be filled and how the pharmacist would get paid for filling prescriptions that came from her clinics.

During the execution of search warrants on September 1, 2011, federal agents found 1,116 pills in Davtyan’s Encino home and another 7,589 pills in her Mercedes parked in her garage. 

Davtyan’s co-defendant and common-law husband, Armen Ayrappetyan, remains a fugitive and is believed to be residing in Russia.

The oxycodone distribution case against Davtyan was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Drug Enforcement Administration; IRS - Criminal Investigation; the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; the California Department of Justice; the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department; the Los Angeles County Health Authority Law Enforcement Task (HALT); the California Medical Board; the Simi Valley Police Department; and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.