Judge sentences St. Louis County doctor for fraudulently obtaining opioid narcotic prescription drugs

ST. LOUIS – United States District Court Judge Rodney W. Sippel sentenced today Angela K. Williams, M.D., to three years’ probation, $745 in restitution to Medicare and Medicaid and 100 hours community service today. The 34-year-old Brentwood, Missouri, resident pleaded guilty in January to fraudulently obtaining oxycodone.

According to the plea agreement, Dr. Williams wanted to obtain prescription drugs containing controlled substances for her own personal use outside the bounds of professional medical practice and not for legitimate medical purposes. Accordingly, Dr. Williams used her own prescription pad to write and sign numerous prescriptions for controlled substances using other persons’ names, including prescriptions for the narcotic opioid pain relief drugs hydrocodone and oxycodone. Dr. Williams then went to pharmacies and, posing as a patient, presented the prescriptions for the drugs. Dr. Williams also fraudulently used another doctor’s prescription pad, name, and Drug Enforcement Administration number to write herself additional controlled substance prescriptions.

"When medical professionals break the law for their own personal gain, it’s particularly sad," said Special Agent in Charge William J. Callahan, head of the DEA St. Louis Division. "But as with any case we investigate where prescription drugs are used for illegal purposes, we seek to prevent them from causing injury or even death by the people who made poor choices to begin with. We appreciate our investigative partners in preventing this doctor from contributing further to the opioid crisis."

The DEA investigated the case with the Florissant, Mo., Police Department, Town and Country, Mo., Police Department, St. John, Mo., Police Department, Bureau of Narcotic and Dangerous Drugs of the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services, and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Missouri Attorney General’s Office.