Another doctor and a nurse have been swept up in the federal crackdown on a notorious Montgomery “pill mill” that flooded Alabama’s capital with opioids under the guise of medical care. Dr. Willie J. Chester, Jr., 64, of Pike Road, Alabama, and nurse Stephanie Michelle Ott, 42, of Fairhope, Alabama, were arrested Wednesday, February 28, 2018, following a sweeping indictment that ties them to the illegal operations at Family Practice, a clinic at 4143 Atlanta Highway.
The indictment charges Chester with drug distribution, health care fraud, and conspiracy. Federal prosecutors allege that between 2016 and 2017, Chester prescribed controlled substances to patients who had no legitimate medical need, turning the clinic into a prescription pipeline for narcotics. He’s accused of knowingly enabling fraud by billing health insurance companies for unnecessary prescriptions and sham medical evaluations—acts that could land him up to 20 years in prison on drug charges alone, and 10 years on health care fraud counts.
Ott, once hired as a consultant in 2015, faces conspiracy and health care fraud charges for allegedly designing and implementing a billing system that overcharged insurers for services rendered by nurse practitioners. That system, prosecutors say, was engineered to maximize profit through deception, feeding the financial engine of a clinic operating more like a criminal enterprise than a medical office.
This case centers on Family Practice, once co-owned by Dr. Gilberto Sanchez, who pleaded guilty in November 2017 to drug distribution, health care fraud, and money laundering. His former partner, Dr. Shepherd Odom, followed with a guilty plea in December to drug distribution and money laundering. Nurse practitioner Steven Cox admitted in January 2018 to distributing drugs and committing health care fraud. Now, with the addition of new charges against physician Julio Delgado and nurse practitioner Elizabeth Cronier, the net tightens on a network that allegedly treated patients like cash cows.
The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Tactical Diversion Squad, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General. Local agencies including the Montgomery Police Department, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Opelika Police Department, Elmore County Sheriff’s Office, and the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners provided critical support. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan S. Ross and R. Rand Neeley are prosecuting.
An indictment is not a conviction—every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. But the pattern is clear: Family Practice didn’t heal. It exploited. And now, with seven defendants charged and counting, federal authorities are sending a message: pill mills operate at their peril.
Related Federal Cases
- Nurse Practitioner Parker Sentenced in Pill Mill Case · Alabama
- Huntsville ‘Pill Mill’ Doctor Aggarwal Pleads Guilty · Alabama
- Phenix City Doc Pleads Guilty to Pill Mill Scheme & Money Laundering · Alabama
- Huntsville Doc Gets 15-Year Sentence for Pill Mill Fraud · Alabama
- Phenix City Pill Mill Doc Gets 10-Year Sentence · Alabama
Key Facts
- State: Alabama
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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