Taylor resident among 19 people indicted in prescription drug conspiracy

A Taylor resident is among 19 people in the metro Detroit area who have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to illegally distribute prescription drugs.

The charges were announced Thursday, June 11 by federal officials after FBI and other agents raided more than a dozen facilities – mostly clinics and pharmacies -- in the metro Detroit area, an FBI spokeswoman confirmed.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Brandy R. McMillion and Mitra Jafary-Hariri.

Officials allege that medical professionals wrote illegal prescriptions for “fake” patients who had no legitimate medical need for the drugs.

Taylor resident Robert King, 38, is alleged to have been a “patient recruiter” in the scheme.

All of the defendants are charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and distributing, controlled substances. Several face additional counts of unlawful distribution of controlled substances.

Overall, more than 1.9 million dosages of Schedule II controlled substances were prescribed as part of the conspiracy, officials allege, with a street value of more than $41 million. Among the drugs listed were Oxycodone, Oxymorphone, Oxycodone-Acetaminophen (Percocet), Hydrocodone and Hydrocodone-Acetaminophen.

“Prescription drugs are supposed to go to people who truly need them, not to fake patients or people selling drugs on the streets,” said Matthew Schneider, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. “We are focusing on charging doctors, pharmacists and the networks that add to the opioid crisis, and this case is unfortunately yet another example of the serious problem facing Michigan.”

According to the 44-count unsealed indictment, John Henry Rankin, III, of Detroit and owner of New Vision Rehab and Preferred Rehab clinics, provided money and other illegal benefits to multiple doctors and nurse practitioners to persuade them to write prescriptions for bogus patients who did not have a legitimate medical need for the drugs. Rankin also provided money to an unlicensed medical professional who posed as a physician and issued pre-signed controlled substance prescriptions in the names of other providers, according to the indictment.

Prescriptions were presented to multiple pharmacies in the area, officials allege. The pharmacies allegedly dispensed more than 58,725 dosage units of Schedule II controlled substances prescribed by the medical professionals named in the indictment.

Pharmacist Ali Sabbagh of nearby Dearborn Heights is also named in the indictment. The 36-year-old worked at Franklin Healthmart in Southfield.

Some pharmacists billed insurers for dispensing medications that were not medically unnecessary and at other times pharmacists accepted cash from recruiters for filling and dispensing medications, according to the indictment.

Search warrants executed on June 11 were conducted by agents from the FBI, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General, assigned to a task force that targets individuals suspected of contributing to the nation’s opioid crisis.

“These enforcement actions and others like them around the country demonstrate our commitment to prosecuting licensed professionals who flood communities with addictive legal drugs for their own personal benefit,” said Keith Martin, special agent in charge of the DEA’s Detroit Field Division.

Also named in the indictment were Dr. Beth Carter 56, of Southfield; Dr. Robert Kenewell, 52, of Auburn Hills; Dr. Jason Brunt, 50, of Clawson and Dr. John Swan, 30, of St. Clair Shores; nurse practitioner Jean Pinkard, 63, of Farmington Hills, nurse practitioner Toni Green, 58, of St. Clair Shores; pharmacist Adeniyi Adepoju, 61, of Warren; pharmacist Maksudali Saiyad, 65, of Troy; Pharmacy owner Virendra Gaidhane, 49, of Troy; pharmacy technician Dewayne Bason, 28, of Detroit, Jermaine Hamblin, 36 of Roseville; Sonya Mitchell, 50, of Southfield; and Lavar Carter, 56, of Southfield; Robert Lee Dower, Jr., 49, of Eastpointe and Denise Sailes, 51, of Detroit.

“The opioid epidemic continues to have a harmful impact on many people across this country”, said Lamont Pugh III, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Health & Human Services, Office of Inspector General of the Chicago region. “Medical professionals who choose to participate in schemes as alleged in this indictment only exacerbate the problem. The OIG will continue to dedicate and prioritize resources to the investigation of allegations of this nature in an effort to ensure the health and safety of patients and taxpayer dollars.”