The Orange County Criminal Lawyer Blog
Three people in northwest Florida were arrested on multiple charges after a years-long, multi-agency investigation led the authorities to believe they trafficked over a hundred pounds of drugs out of a privately owned pharmacy.
At the end of 2020, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Highway Patrol, the Florida Department of Financial Services, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and several other agencies started investigating Pace Pharmacy when they suspected the business was being used as a pill mill. The pharmacy is owned by a 54-year-old pharmacist and his 58-year-old wife, who works as the office manager. A second man, age 69, is employed as a pharmacist at the location.
The authorities believed that the business was providing large quantities of illicit substances to people who did not have a medical need for them and illegally billed insurance companies to cover the cost. During the investigation, it was asserted that the alleged pill mill moved more than 48 pounds of oxycodone, 57 pounds of hydrocodone, and approximately two pounds of hydromorphone.
All three suspects were taken into custody and booked into the Santa Rosa County Jail. The man who co-owns the pharmacy is facing multiple preliminary charges, including conspiracy to traffic oxycodone, conspiracy to traffic hydrocodone, conspiracy to traffic hydromorphone, conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, and five counts of identity theft. His wife is accused of conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to sell controlled substances. The other pharmacist may face charges of conspiracy to traffic schedule II-controlled substances and conspiracy to commit racketeering. According to facility records, at the time this was written, all three suspects were still behind bars.
If you or someone you love is suspected of a drug offense, contact Orange County criminal defense lawyer Staycie R. Sena at (949) 477-8088 for a consultation now.