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More than 25 people from Texas and Louisiana are accused of being involved in a “pill mill” operation that hired homeless people to pose as patients and obtain prescriptions for pain killer medications, authorities say.
Four of the suspects, including a Dallas doctor and an Arlington pharmacist, were arrested Wednesday on federal charges of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, the office of John R. Parker, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, announced in a news release Thursday.
Dr. Richard Andrews, 63, of Dallas; Muhammad Faridi, 39, of Murphy; Adrian Banks, 22, of Dallas; and pharmacist Ndufola Kigham, 44, of Arlington had their first appearances in federal court Wednesday.
Faridi and Andrews, who own the McAllen Medical Clinic in the Red Bird area, are accused of handing out prescriptions for more than 150,000 oxycodone pills between January 2013 and July 2014, despite knowing “there was no legitimate medical purpose” for them,” according to an indictment.
Four other people are charged with unlawful use of a communication facility, in addition to the conspiracy charge, Parker’s office said.
How such operations work, according to prosecutors: Drivers pick up recruits to pose as patients, give them money to pay for their visit to the clinic and pay them a fee (usually around $30) for their work.
The recruits are coached on what to say to get a specific prescription, and the driver often takes them to a pharmacy afterward and pays for the prescription. The drugs are then sold on the street for a profit.
The conspiracy charge carries a punishment of up to 20 years in federal prison and $1 million fine. The unlawful use of a communication facility charge carries a punishment of four years in prison and a $250,000 fine.