A Chesapeake doctor turned pill peddler. Lopito Bugarin, 65, admitted in federal court today to distributing amphetamine and funneling powerful Schedule II narcotics to patients who never saw the inside of his exam room.
Bugarin, once licensed to heal, instead ran a prescription racket from his Chesapeake practice between 2016 and 2019. He wrote Adderall and Oxycodone scripts without conducting medical exams, often handing out multiple prescriptions under different names to a single individual—friends, family, strangers. No questions. No checks. Just cash and controlled substances.
Court documents lay bare the scheme: Bugarin issued prescriptions for patients he never evaluated, sometimes while he was out of state. He treated his DEA registration like a get-out-of-jail-free card, abusing his authority to feed addiction, not fight disease. The DEA and Chesapeake Police say he operated like a pharmacy with a stethoscope.
U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger didn’t mince words: “This wasn’t medicine. It was trafficking.” Bugarin’s actions, he said, endangered lives and violated the core oath of medical practice. The plea was entered before U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas E. Miller, who accepted the agreement as Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin P. Hudson laid out the evidence.
Now, Bugarin faces up to 20 years in federal prison when sentenced on Feb. 2, 2021. Federal judges often impose sentences below the maximum, but with the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and aggravating factors in play, prosecutors are pushing for time behind bars that matches the betrayal of trust.
The case, docketed as 2:20-cr-25, remains on file with the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Records and court filings are accessible via PACER. The DEA’s Washington Field Division, led by Special Agent in Charge Jesse R. Fong, and Chesapeake Police Chief Col. K.L. Wright, say the conviction sends a message: doctors who deal are dealers, no matter the white coat.
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Key Facts
- State: Virginia
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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