Riverhead Physician Assistant Pleads Guilty To Conspiracy To Illegally Prescribe Oxycodone
Defendant Issued Prescriptions for Pills to be Sold in Exchange for Cash
BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Michael Troyan, a physician assistant who operated two urgent care clinics on the east end of Long Island, today pleaded guilty to conspiring to illegally distribute oxycodone, a highly addictive prescription pain medication. The guilty plea was entered before United States District Judge Denis R. Hurley at the U.S. Courthouse in Central Islip. When sentenced, Troyan, 37, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and a $1 million fine.
In announcing the guilty plea, United States Attorney Robert L. Capers expressed his grateful appreciation to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’(DEA) Long Island Tactical Diversion Squad, which led the government’s investigation in this case. The DEA’s Long Island Tactical Diversion Squad comprises agents and officers of the DEA, Nassau County Police Department, Rockville Centre Police Department and Port Washington Police Department.
According to court filings and statements made in court during the guilty plea, between November 2011 and October 2015, Troyan, who was authorized to prescribe controlled substances, issued prescriptions for thousands of oxycodone pills to co-conspirators for the purpose of illegally re-selling the pills. During the investigation, Troyan was captured on video in an undercover operation writing phony prescriptions at his Riverhead medical office for oxycodone and receiving large quantities of cash - half the profit from prior illegal sales. As part of his guilty plea, Troyan agreed to forfeit $710,290 attributable to illegal prescription sales.
One of Troyan’s co-conspirators was Southampton Town Councilman Bradley Bender, who is scheduled to be sentenced on June 24, 2016. Bender’s resignation as a Councilman was accepted by the Southampton Town Board on the day of his guilty plea, Nov. 24, 2015.
This case is part of a series of federal prosecutions by the United States Attorney’s Office as part of the Prescription Drug Initiative. In January 2012, that Office and the DEA, in conjunction with the five District Attorneys in the Eastern District of New York, the Nassau and Suffolk County Police Departments, the New York City Police Department, and New York State Police, along with other key federal, state, and local government partners, launched the Initiative to mount a comprehensive response to what the United States Department of Health and Human Services Center for Disease Control and Prevention has called an epidemic increase in the abuse of opioid analgesics. To date, the Initiative has brought over 160 federal and local criminal prosecutions, including the prosecution of 18 health care professionals, taken civil enforcement actions against a hospital, a pharmacy, and a pharmacy chain, removed prescription authority from numerous rogue doctors, and expanded information-sharing among enforcement agencies to better target and pursue drug traffickers. The Initiative also is involved in an extensive community outreach program to address the abuse of pharmaceuticals.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Allen Bode and James Knapp.
