Pharmacist Sentenced to Prison for Oxycodone Scheme
The scheme made him hundreds of thousands of dollars-and prison time.
An independent pharmacist was sentenced to eight years in federal prison this week for conspiracy to distribute oxycodone (OxyContin and other brands) and money laundering.
Michael Ingram, who owned and operated Hometown Pharmacy in Georgetown, KY, admitted in his guilty plea that he illegally distributed and dispensed oxycodone by filling forged prescriptions from outside Kentucky.
Ingram also admitted that his distribution and dispensation of these pills was “outside the scope of pharmaceutical professional practice and was not for a legitimate medical purpose,” said the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky in a statement.
Ingram said he used the proceeds from the illegal oxycodone sales to purchase the property now housing an additional business, Hometown Pharmacy of Cynthiana, KY.
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Ingram was ordered to forfeit in excess of $450,000 stemming from the case.
“We continue to see corrupt medical professionals choose profit over medical judgment and callously fuel an opioid epidemic that has decimated our state,” said Carlton S. Shier, IV, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. “This despicable conduct does enormous damage, both to individuals struggling with addiction and to our communities as a whole. Combatting this epidemic requires that we be clear: these egregious breaches of professional trust are criminal conduct that will be prosecuted.”
In addition to eight years in federal prison, U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell ordered Ingram to serve two years of home incarceration after he finishes his prison time.
