Roy D. Reynolds, Illegal Distribution of Controlled Substances, Kentucky 2012

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A physician from Franklin, Kentucky, has been sentenced to 50 months in federal prison for his role in a drug trafficking ring, announced United States Attorney Russell M. Coleman. Roy D. Reynolds, 55, was convicted of 15 counts of illegally distributing controlled substances, including oxycodone, hydrocodone, and Xanax, to patients without a legitimate medical purpose.

According to court records, Reynolds prescribed large quantities of opiate pain medications to multiple patients, including one who had five drug overdoses while under his care. Despite this, Reynolds continued to prescribe opioids and benzodiazepines to the patient, who eventually died of an overdose.

Between 2010 and 2012, Reynolds was one of the top-prescribing doctors in Kentucky for oxycodone, hydrocodone, and benzodiazepines. In 2011, he prescribed 132,372 oxycodone pills, the second-most prescribed by a primary care physician in Simpson County that year. In 2012, he prescribed 139,667 pills, the second-most prescribed by a primary care physician in Simpson County that year.

“What this conviction is not,” stated U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman, “is targeting a physician who prescribed opioids in the course of professional practice and for a legitimate medical purpose. It is, however, sending a doctor to federal prison who became a drug dealer with a medical license.”

Reynolds was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Kentucky State Police, the Kentucky Office of Inspector General, and the Division of Audits and Investigations, Drug Enforcement and Professional Practice Branch. He was convicted in April 2018 and sentenced on [date] to 50 months in federal prison with no probation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David Weiser and Rob Bonar with assistance from paralegals Mary Kennedy and Jane Bauer.

Reynolds’ prescribing habits were so egregious that he lost his DEA license to prescribe opiate pain medications in February 2013. However, during the first five weeks of 2013, he prescribed more opiate pain medications than any other Simpson County physician.

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