Former Jacksonville healthcare worker sentenced to five years in federal prison for opioid distribution conspiracy

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Rhiannon Rader (34, St. Marys, Georgia) was sentenced to five years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, hydrocodone, and alprazolam (Xanax). Rader had pleaded guilty on October 29, 2019.         

According to court documents, as an employee of a Jacksonville Beach physician’s office, Rader had access to her employer’s prescription pad. Without her employer’s knowledge, Rader sold fraudulent prescriptions for controlled substances, including oxycodone, hydrocodone, and Xanax, to drug dealers. She also filled fraudulent prescriptions for drugs in her own name. 

Pharmacy records show that between March and September 2016, in Duval County and Nassau County, 44 different pharmacies filled approximately 116 fraudulent prescriptions for 46 individuals who were not actually patients of Rader’s employer. Records from multiple pharmacies show that on certain occasions, when pharmacy employees called the physician’s office to confirm whether such prescriptions were genuine, Rader falsely represented that the prescriptions were legitimate. As part of her guilty plea, Rader admitted that her actions resulted in the illegal distribution of nearly 7,000 doses of controlled substances. 

Rader is the eleventh member of this drug distribution ring to be sentenced in federal court. The following members were previously sentenced as follows: 

• Sandra Arnold (35, Nolensville, Tennessee), 24 months imprisonment
• Christopher John Bates (27, Jacksonville), 42 months imprisonment
• Christopher Lee Calhoun Jr. (25, Fernandina Beach), three years probation, including six months of home detention
• Jon’quill Holmes (31, Jacksonville), three years probation
• Otis Kirkland (33, Jacksonville), 63 months imprisonment
• LaRhonda Lukes (32, Jacksonville), three years probation, including two months of home detention
• Christopher Oquendo Martinez (28, Baldwin, Georgia), 51 months imprisonment
• Reginald Ray (34, Jacksonville), time served or approximately 19 months’ imprisonment
• Carleigh Wilson (25, Jacksonville), time served or approximately four months imprisonment
• Sarah Yocom (30, Kingsland, Georgia), one year of probation         

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration Jacksonville District Office, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, and the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office.   It is being prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.

More information about this case can be found at https://www.flmd.uscourts.gov or https://ecf.flmd.uscourts.gov