Doctor Sentenced In White Plains Federal Court To Over 3 Years In Prison For Distributing 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”) and Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced today that Felix Rodriguez, a licensed physician in Manhattan, was sentenced to a term of 37 months’ imprisonment by U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Karas in White Plains federal court for distributing Oxycodone, a Schedule II controlled substance.
According to documents filed in White Plains federal court in this case:
From May 2010 through February 2011, Rodriguez, who was a licensed physician, working out of a medical office in Manhattan, provided Oxycodone prescriptions made out in the names of various other individuals, including individuals who Rodriguez never met or examined to an individual who then used these prescriptions to obtain the drugs for illegal distribution. When Rodriguez wrote these prescriptions, he knew that by doing so he was violating generally accepted medical practice. Oxycodone is a powerful painkiller with a high potential for addiction and abuse.
In addition to the term of imprisonment imposed, Rodriguez, 52, of the Bronx, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated: “The abuse of diverted prescription pain medication is the fastest growing drug problem in our country, now killing more people than illegal street drugs like heroin and cocaine combined. We cannot tolerate the fueling of this epidemic by crooked doctors who flout their oath to care for, not harm, their patients. The sentence imposed today sends a strong message to those doctors engaged in the criminal distribution of pain killers that they too, like dealers of illegal street drugs, will feel full force of the law. We will continue to work with federal, state, and local law enforcement organizations to eradicate this nationwide problem harming so many in our communities.”
Mr. Bharara praised the investigative 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 Department of Financial Services, the Westchester County Department of Public Safety; along with the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Yonkers Police Department, and the Mount Vernon Police Department.
This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey Alberts and Abigail S. Kurland are in charge of the prosecution.
