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FBI agents in May arrested Robert Delagente -- who they said called himself the “Candy Man” and the “El Chapo of Opioids” – during raids at two of his offices in Oakland.
Federal authorities began investigating Delagente, 45, after two former employees accused him of firing them because they didn’t want to participate in his schemes.
Delagente routinely prescribed oxycodone, Percocet, Tylenol with codeine and various benzodiazepines (alprazolam, diazepam, clonazepam, and temazepam) “outside the ordinary course of professional practice” and without a legitimate medical purpose, a federal indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Newark alleges.
Sometimes he didn’t even see the patient for a medical visit or even discuss the reasons for his or her needing the drug, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said.
At times, he took requests by text and left the drugs at the front desk, Carpentio said.
Patients even got to dictate the strength and dosage, the U.S. attorney said.
Delagente also prescribed the dangerous drug combination known as the “Holy Trinity,” comprised of opioids (usually oxycodone), benzodiazepines (usually alprazolam) and muscle relaxers (usually carisoprodol), he said.
Delagente didn’t monitor or screen the patients afterward, Carpenito said, adding that he even prescribed drugs to patients he knew were addicted to opioids or other medications.
In one instance, a employee texted Delagente that a patient had gotten a babysitter and driven a long distance to get to the practice, but had been unable to see a doctor, the indictment says.
It says Delagente responded: “Oh well … C’est la vie! Lol … He can wait for his oral heroin another day. Lol.”
Another texted Delagente of being unable to stop taking painkillers, saying a plan was needed to stop, “not cold turkey.”
“If I go 4 days without [painkillers] I am in huge trouble,” the federal indictment adds.
In response, it says, Delagente wrote: “I will leave you a short supply RX [prescription] at the front to pick up.”
He then wrote the patient a prescription for 120 tablets of 30-milligram oxycodone for 30 days.
Delagente allegedly told the patient: “I’m literally sticking my neck out and can lose my medical license or [be] arrested for what I just did.”
Delagente last month admitted in Superior Court in Hackensack that he submitted seven fraudulent claims to Blue Cross/Blue Shield of New Jersey totaling $32,006 between May and December 2016 while practicing at North Jersey Family Medicine on Yawpo Avenue in Oakland.
Under the terms of a plea deal with the state, Robert Delagente will be sentenced to the five years in prison on Jan. 10.
Delagente also agreed to the temporary suspension of his license pending the outcome of the federal charges and pending further action by the state Board of Medical Examiners.
The federal indictment charges him with one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled dangerous substances, three counts of distribution of controlled dangerous substances, and one count of falsifying medical records. Carpenito said a first appearance hadn’t yet been scheduled.
Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI with the investigation leading to the charges.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean Sherman and Jason S. Gould of his office’s Opioids Unit are handling the case, the U.S. attorney said.
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