Sacramento, Calif. — A California physician turned pill peddler, Nicholas J. Capos Jr., 67, of Yuba City, was sentenced today to four years and four months in federal prison for trafficking controlled substances under the guise of medical practice. U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. handed down the sentence after Capos admitted to a years-long scheme selling oxycodone, methadone, and hydrocodone to patients he never properly examined.
Between April 3, 2008, and October 30, 2012, Capos, once a licensed cardiologist, abused his medical authority to feed the region’s opioid epidemic. Court documents reveal he prescribed massive, dangerous doses of controlled substances—like 2,640 hydrocodone pills in just 28 days to a single patient—without legitimate medical purpose. The prescriptions were written outside the scope of accepted medical practice, often for cash and without physical exams.
Capos charged patients a so-called “DEA Fee” of $100 per prescription, a brazen attempt to mask the criminal nature of his operations. This fee, entirely contrary to medical ethics, signaled an illegal enterprise, not a clinic. Investigators found clear evidence patients were abusing and reselling the drugs, yet Capos continued to flood the community with potent narcotics.
U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott didn’t mince words: “By prescribing medications to patients he never physically examined in amounts clearly intended for abuse and resale, Capos injected potent and potentially lethal drugs into the community, putting lives at risk.” He emphasized the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s commitment to targeting opioid distributors, even those hiding behind white coats.
DEA Special Agent in Charge John J. Martin condemned the betrayal of medical trust. “The public should have confidence that practicing physicians will adhere to the do-no-harm principle. Nicholas Capos did just the opposite when he prescribed oxycodone without legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of practice. This type of reckless behavior provides fuel to the fire of the opioid epidemic plaguing our nation.”
Capos pleaded guilty on May 5, 2016, to distribution and dispensation of oxycodone. His medical license has since been revoked. The case, investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California, marks another strike against the underground opioid economy thriving in plain sight.
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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