A medical doctor from Waycross and five others have been charged in a federal indictment with conspiring to traffic in oxycodone, hydrocodone and other drugs through a purported pain clinic known as East Health Center that operated in Garden City.
The indictment, unsealed Monday, alleges that February through May 2011, the time East Health Center was open, members of the conspiracy unlawfully prescribed and caused to be prescribed more than 4 million milligrams of oxycodone without any legitimate medical purpose.
During this period, prescriptions were written for numerous “patients” who lived outside the state of Georgia, including more than 130 from Kentucky; more than 50 from North Carolina; more than 30 from South Carolina; and more than 80 from Florida.
Named in the indictment were Dr. Najam Azmat, 55, of Waycross; Sean Michael Clark, 34, Adelaida M. Lizama, 27, and Candace Anne Carreras, 25, all of Boca Raton, Fla.; and Daniel John Wise, 34, and Shelly Lynn Morford, 31, both of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Other targets of the investigation who have pleaded guilty for their role in the East Health Center pill mill were:
• Adelard LeFrancois III, 43, of Boca Raton; and Francis J. Barbuscia, 36, of Plantation, Fla., who entered guilty pleas before U.S. District Court Judge William T. Moore Jr. on Aug. 3. Each pleaded guilty to conspiring to dispense controlled substances, including oxycodone, without a legitimate medical purpose.
• Constantinos Afthinos, 32, of Florida pleaded guilty to misprision of felony on Nov. 5.
• Dr. Kenneth Gossett, 51, of Rome who pleaded guilty Nov. 7, to conspiring to dispense controlled substances, including oxycodone, without a legitimate medical purpose.
“During the last two years, we’ve seen a number of pill mills relocate their unlawful businesses to the state of Georgia,” said U.S. Attorney Edward Tarver. “These so-called clinics operate under the guise of a stethoscope and a white coat, and they prey upon their so-called ‘patients.’
“Any pill mills that seek to do business in the Southern District of Georgia can expect to be investigated and prosecuted like every other drug-trafficking organization that pushes poison in our communities.”
Harry S. Sommers, special agent in charge of the Atlanta Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, reinforced Tarver’s statement.
“The DEA will continue to aggressively investigate those who cause to be dispensed addictive pain medications without legitimate medical purpose under the pretext of a medical doctor’s care,” Sommers said.
The indictment results from a joint investigation by the DEA, IRS — Criminal Investigations, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Chatham Savannah Counter Narcotics Team and the U.S. Marshals Service. Personnel from the Ware County Sheriff’s office assisted in making arrests.
