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LONDON, KY – Ranjit Wahi, 78, of Chicago, is headed to federal prison for nearly two and a half years after admitting he ran a prescription opioid racket out of his Midwest Physician Pain Center. Wahi, sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Claria Horn Boom, got 29 months for conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and methadone.
The operation, running from 2019 to late 2022, wasn’t about medicine. According to court papers, Wahi pre-signed hundreds of prescriptions for powerful painkillers. Patients would travel to his Chicago clinic, hand over cash to receptionist Judith Harskey, and walk out with prescriptions – without ever seeing a doctor.
When the DEA raided the clinic in November 2022, they found 541 blank, pre-signed prescriptions stashed in Harskey’s office, including 30 in her purse. Think of it as an opioid vending machine, fueled by greed.
Harskey, already sentenced to 36 months, flipped on Wahi. Federal law means Wahi will serve at least 85% of his 29-month sentence, followed by a year of supervised release.
The DEA led the investigation, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Pearce Nesbitt handling the prosecution for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
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