A shocking turn of events unfolded in a Dallas federal court as Dr. Richard Andrews, 64, of Dallas, pleaded guilty to two conspiracy offenses stemming from his involvement in a pill mill operation. The owner and sole supervising physician at the McAllen Medical Clinic, located on South Hampton in Dallas, Andrews faced U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater and admitted to his role in the illicit scheme.
Specifically, Andrews, a doctor of osteopathy, pleaded guilty to a superseding information charging one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances (oxycodone) and one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. The charges carry a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison. However, according to the plea agreement, if the Court accepts the plea, the parties agree that a sentence of at least 48 months but no more than 96 months in federal prison is the appropriate disposition of the case.
Andrews also faces a statutory fine of up to $1 million on the drug conviction and up to $500,000 on the money laundering conviction. He remains on bond, with sentencing set for April 28, 2017. As part of his plea agreement, Andrews has surrendered his DEA Certificate of Registration and agrees that he will not apply for another one. He further agreed never to seek or retain employment, including consulting, in or related to the pain management industry.
A co-conspirator in the case, Muhammad Faridi, 40, who is not a physician but was also a part owner of the McAllen Medical Clinic, pleaded guilty in August 2016 to one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and is scheduled to be sentenced in March 2017. The case against Andrews and his co-conspirators began to unravel in February 2015, when a federal grand jury in Dallas indicted 23 individuals on offenses related to their participation in the prescription drug distribution conspiracy.
According to documents filed in the case, from approximately January 2013 through July 2014, Andrews and his co-conspirators, including Faridi, distributed and caused to be distributed at least 150,000 30mg oxycodone pills in Dallas. The prescriptions were issued in Andrews’ name and under his DEA registration number. Andrews wrote or signed prescriptions for 30mg oxycodone pills without conducting medical exams of patients, without determining there was a legitimate medical purpose for the prescription, and outside the usual course of professional practice.
Andrews admitted that he and his co-conspirators issued the illegitimate prescriptions to make money. The proceeds of the drug-trafficking conspiracy consisted of cash payments collected by Faridi and other co-conspirators at McAllen Medical Clinic for fake patient visits. Those payments varied per patient, per visit, and were payable only in cash. Andrews received a share of those cash payments. He further admitted that he and his co-conspirators conspired to conduct financial transactions with what he knew, or should have known, were proceeds of the drug trafficking in order to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership or control of those proceeds.
Related Federal Cases
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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