Angela Gillespie-Shelton, Opioid Pill Mill, California 2015
LOS ANGELES — Angela Gillespie-Shelton, a.k.a. “Boss Lady,” and “Angotti,” 54, of Houston, was sentenced by United States District Judge John A. Kronstadt to 60 months in federal prison for her leading role in an opioid buy-back scheme in which a doctor at a Los Angeles clinic prescribed opioids to “patients” who sold the narcotics back to the clinic.Gillespie-Shelton pleaded guilty on May 21 to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering. The scheme was designed to sell prescriptions for narcotics in exchange for cash, and to later acquire those same drugs from the clinic’s “patients,” ship the narcotics to Texas and then sell them on the black market.
The conspiracy began in October 2012 and continued until January 2015. During that time, Gillespie-Shelton and her co-conspirators ran Southfork Medical Clinic, located in the Harvard Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. At the time, Gillespie-Shelton primarily was based in Texas, but she frequently traveled to California.
In Texas, Gillespie-Shelton used two pharmacies that she controlled as a front to sell on the black market the drugs shipped from the Los Angeles clinic. Under Gillespie-Shelton’s control, the pharmacies in Texas also filled false or fraudulent prescriptions and received kickbacks from the fake prescriptions. Gillespie-Shelton’s co-conspirators also stole a physician’s identity to issue falsified prescriptions to obtain additional narcotics.
The investigation into Gillespie-Shelton’s scheme was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, IRS Criminal Investigation, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the California Department of Justice, and the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Gillespie-Shelton also was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine as part of her sentence. She laundered more than $1 million from the diversion schemes through numerous accounts, some of which she used to further the narcotics trafficking conspiracy.
In February 2016, Dr. Madhu Garg, a co-conspirator of Gillespie-Shelton, pleaded guilty to illegally distributing oxycodone and money laundering, and later served an 18-month prison sentence.
The case against Gillespie-Shelton was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Chelsea Norell of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section.
Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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