Texas ‘Pill Mill’ Trio Get Decades in Prison

DALLAS – Justice, though slow, finally landed for victims of a brazen opioid distribution ring in North Texas. U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater today handed down significant sentences to three individuals convicted of running a “pill mill” operation, a scheme that flooded Dallas streets with highly addictive and dangerous prescription painkillers. The sentences, announced by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas, send a clear message: profiting from addiction carries a heavy price.

Muhammad Faridi, 41, of Murphy, received 108 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in August 2016 to one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. Faridi, the owner of McAllen Medical Clinic, served as the financial hub of the operation, allegedly handling the massive influx of cash generated from the illegal prescriptions. The laundering charge speaks to the calculated effort to conceal the dirty money fueling the scheme.

The most damning sentence went to Dr. Richard Andrews, 64, of Dallas, a doctor of osteopathy who betrayed his oath. Andrews was sentenced to 96 months in federal prison following guilty pleas in January 2017 to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance – Oxycodone – and one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. Andrews didn’t just write prescriptions; he rubber-stamped them, issuing 30mg oxycodone pills without conducting legitimate medical examinations or establishing a genuine medical need. He signed off on blank prescriptions filled in by Faridi, turning a blind eye to the devastation he was enabling.

The conspiracy wasn’t just about doctors and money men. Ndufola Kigham, 45, of Arlington, a registered pharmacist and owner of GenPharm Pharmacy in Desoto, Texas, was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison following guilty pleas in February 2017 to two counts of misprision of felony. Kigham *knew* about the scheme. She didn’t report it. Worse, she actively concealed it by filling fraudulent prescriptions, dispensing thousands of pills to individuals other than those named on the paperwork. She wasn’t a passive observer; she was an accomplice.

“These diverted prescription pain pills kill more people in this country than heroin, while simultaneously fueling demand for heroin itself,” stated U.S. Attorney Parker, laying bare the grim reality of the opioid crisis. “Eighty percent of heroin users started down that dark, steep path by abusing prescription pain pills first. Those who divert legitimate drugs from their lawful, therapeutic purposes to illicit, deadly purposes all in the name of money are no better than any other drug trafficker and will be treated accordingly.” Between January 2013 and July 2014, the group distributed at least 150,000 of the highly addictive 30mg oxycodone pills. Kigham alone dispensed over 70,000 based on those illegitimate prescriptions.

The sentences are the culmination of a sprawling investigation that began in March 2015 when a federal grand jury in Dallas indicted 23 individuals. Andrews, Kigham, and Faridi were specifically charged in a superseding indictment in December 2015. The indictment detailed a cynical operation where vulnerable individuals – often homeless or impoverished – were paid to pose as patients, creating the illusion of legitimate medical need. The prescription medications weren’t intended for healing; they were destined for the streets, fueling addiction and enriching criminals. This case is a stark reminder of the human cost of greed and the relentless fight against the opioid epidemic.