The Brief
- A Texas doctor is accused of illegally distributing more than 5 million opioid pills.
- Prosecutors say he used fake patients and recruiters to resell drugs on the street.
- He faces multiple federal charges and up to 20 years in prison per count.
HOUSTON – A Texas doctor has been accused of illegally prescribing and distributing millions of opioid pills to be resold on the streets for profit.
Texas doctor opioid scheme
James Robles, 70, of Weslaco, Texas, is accused of using his cash-only clinic in Houston to sell prescriptions for powerful controlled substances. According to the Office of Public Affairs in a Thursday release, Robles moved more than 5 million pills to the streets through fake patients that he never even saw.
Robles is alleged to have used “crew leaders” to take his prescriptions, recruit others to pose as patients, have them fill the prescriptions at pharmacies, and then resell the pills on the street.
Robles is accused of prescribing about 2.9 million pills of hydrocodone, 1.3 million pills of oxycodone and 1.1 million pills of carisoprodol within four years. In less than three years of the conspiracy, more than $2 million in cash was reportedly deposited into bank accounts controlled by Robles.
The charges
Robles is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and dispense controlled substances, one count of distributing and dispensing controlled substances and one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count.…