United States Drug Enforcement Administration

NEW YORK CITY –   Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Marc Laruelle pled guilty to one count of distributing Oxycodone, among other narcotics, without a legitimate medical purpose while acting outside the usual course of professional practice.  Laruelle pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Denis L. Cote.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Marc Laruelle abused his medical license and violated the oath of his profession when he prescribed more than 100,000 doses of a highly potent and addictive opioid without a legitimate medical need.  As this case makes clear, we will aggressively prosecute physicians who are contributing to the national opioid crisis.  Laruelle now awaits sentencing for his crime.”

According to the Indictment, Laruelle’s plea agreement, and statements made in Court:

Between in or about September 2016 up to and including in or about October 2021, Marc Laruelle, a licensed doctor specializing in psychiatry, prescribed more than 100,000 doses of Oxycodone without a legitimate medical purpose outside of the usual course of professional practice.  Oxycodone is a highly potent and addictive opioid that commands high prices in the black market because of demand by drug abusers.  Laruelle often prescribed Oxycodone in combination with Xanax (alprazolam) and/or Adderall (amphetamine), controlled substances that are themselves frequently abused and resold illicitly.  Laruelle failed to perform proper physical examinations or medical tests prior to prescribing Oxycodone to his patients.  Laruelle also charged patients as much as $800 per prescription and prescribed large amounts of Oxycodone with the understanding that the quantity would be resold in the black market. 

Laruelle, 65, of Yonkers, New York, pled guilty to one count of distributing Oxycodone, Amphetamines, and Xanax, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. 

The statutory maximum sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing will be determined by a judge.  Laruelle is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Cote on January 26, 2023.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”) New York Strike Force for their support and assistance in this matter.  The OCDETF New York Strike Force is a crime-fighting unit comprising federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force and the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.  The New York OCDETF Strike Force is housed at the DEA's New York Division and includes agents and officers of the DEA; the New York City Police Department; the New York State Police; Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations; the U.S. Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division; U.S. Customs and Border Prot4ection; the U.S. Marshals Service; New York National Guard; Port Washington Police Department; Suffolk County District Attorney's Office and New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.  Mr. Williams also thanked the New York State Department of Health Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement for their assistance in this case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitzi S. Steiner is in charge of the prosecution.  The case is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit.