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Orange County resident Anthony Mathis, age 55, of New Windsor, was indicted on Wednesday, Oct. 12, in a 10-count indictment along with a Brooklyn doctor, office manager, and two pharmacists.
According to Breon Peace, US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, the group allegedly operated a drug distribution ring from a medical office in Brooklyn.
From December 2018 to October, the group unlawfully distributed more than 11,000 prescriptions for oxycodone, amounting to more than 1.2 million oxycodone pills, which carry a street value of at least $24 million, Peace said.
“Doctors and medical professionals have a professional obligation to do no harm, but, as alleged, the defendants callously supplied more than one million pills to traffickers for distribution, resulting in dangerous opioids flooding the streets of this district,” Peace added.
The scheme worked by the doctor, a pediatrician, and his office manager writing the prescriptions, the pharmacist filling them, and a crew that then distributed them, court documents show.
Mathis oversaw “crews” of sham patients who received medically unnecessary prescriptions, officials said.
Together, the defendants made millions of dollars from the scheme, court documents show.
If convicted of the drug charges, the defendants face up to 20 years imprisonment.
The charges are the result of an ongoing Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation led by the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York and the US Drug Enforcement Agency.
New Yorkers who need help finding free substance-use-disorder treatment resources should contact 1-877-8-HOPENY.
The HopeLine provides high-quality, responsive information, and referral services via phone and text message to callers throughout the state.
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