United States Drug Enforcement Administration

DALLAS - Candis O’Shaea Lewis, 30, of Dallas has been sentenced 24 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater, following her guilty plea in March 2016 to one count of unlawful use of a communication device. Fitzwater ordered Lewis to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on May 23, 2017.  Lewis’ guilty plea stemmed from her role in a pill mill operating during parts of 2013-2015.  The sentence was announced by Clyde E. Shelley, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of DEA’s Dallas Division and United States Attorney John R. Parker. 

In March 2015, a federal grand jury in Dallas indicted 23 individuals, including Lewis, on offenses related to their participation in a prescription drug distribution conspiracy. In 2016, an additional seven individuals were charged in superseding indictments. The 2015 indictment alleged that from at least May 2013 through July 2014, the defendants participated in a scheme to illicitly obtain prescriptions for pain medications, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, and then distribute those controlled substances for profit. As part of the conspiracy, individuals, often homeless or of limited means, were recruited and paid to pose as patients at medical clinics, including the McAllen Medical Clinic in Dallas, to obtain prescriptions to fill those prescriptions at designated pharmacies.

According to documents filed in the Lewis case, on October 21, 2014 Lewis agreed to drive a co-conspirator carrying 30mg oxycodone pills from Dallas to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in exchange for money. Lewis knew the co-conspirator was transporting illicitly-obtained 30mg oxycodone pills and that the pills were intended for further distribution in Louisiana.

The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Internal Revenue Service, Texas Department of Public Safety, the Louisiana State Police, the Grand Prairie Police Department, the Dallas Police Department, the Houston Police Department, the Arlington Police Department, the Greenville Police Department, the Parker County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Diplomatic Security Service.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Walters prosecuted the case.