Lynn Hartwell, 41, of Marion, Va., was convicted on 42 counts after a three-day jury trial in Abingdon, Virginia, for her role in a phentermine distribution scheme that exploited her DEA registration. The physician assistant allowed unexamined patients to receive the controlled weight-loss drug while signing off on falsified medical records, federal prosecutors revealed.
Hartwell was found guilty of one count of conspiring to distribute phentermine, one count of conspiracy to allow use of her DEA registration, 20 counts of distributing a controlled substance, and 20 counts of permitting others to use her DEA number. The jury deliberated for three and a half hours before returning a unanimous verdict in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Ramseyer, Hartwell worked at MTRx, a weight loss clinic in Bristol, Tennessee, operated by Marvin Allen Stanley and owned by his wife, Tracey Michelle Stanley—both of whom have already pled guilty. Though Hartwell only worked Mondays and Fridays, patients received phentermine on off-days without ever seeing her. She later signed and initialed patient charts to cover the unlawful dispensing.
The scheme extended beyond clinic hours. Norma Jean Marsh, a.k.a. “Trixie,” a registered nurse with no clinic affiliation, visited MTRx once or twice a week to fill out patient files for friends from the Saltville area. Hartwell and the Stanleys then supplied Marsh with phentermine for these individuals—many of whom never set foot in the clinic as legitimate patients. Marsh has also pled guilty.
Phentermine is a Schedule IV controlled substance chemically related to amphetamine, commonly abused for appetite suppression. Hartwell now faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine per count at sentencing. She remains on bond, with no sentencing date set.
The case was investigated by the DEA’s Tactical Diversion Squad in Roanoke, with support from the Virginia Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and local police in Bristol, Tennessee, and Saltville, Virginia. MTRx was dismissed from the case due to new, unrelated ownership. Marvin Stanley, Tracey Stanley, and Norma Marsh are scheduled for sentencing on March 2, 2017.
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Key Facts
- State: Virginia
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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