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Memphis Nurse Sentenced to 29 Months for Prescription Drug Conspiracy
A former Memphis nurse has been sentenced to 29 months in federal prison for her role in a prescription drug conspiracy that distributed thousands of pills in the Memphis area.
Kathryn Nikole Russell, 41, was sentenced on December 10, 2020, by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas L. Parker after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute and dispense controlled substances.
According to information presented at sentencing, Russell issued prescriptions for controlled substances, including oxycodone and hydrocodone, at Dillon Russell Health Care Professionals, Inc. in Memphis. The prescriptions were issued outside the usual scope of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose.
The investigation found that Russell prescribed more than 7,800 oxycodone pills, more than 6,000 benzodiazepine pills, and more than 1,000 pills of carisoprodol in an eight-week period.
U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said that the opioid misuse and abuse is an insidious epidemic, created in large part by the over-prescribing and diversion of potent opioids. He vowed to hold accountable any medical personnel who misuse their positions of trust to blindly disregard and endanger others’ very lives for their own financial gain.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), along with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, investigated the case. Trial Attorney Jillian Willis of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Dean DeCandia of the Western District of Tennessee prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.
The ARPO Strike Force, which operates in 10 districts, has charged more than 70 defendants who are collectively responsible for distributing more than 50 million pills. The ARPO Strike Force is part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force Program, led by the Fraud Section.
Key Facts
- State: Tennessee
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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