A federal jury in the Southern District of Florida have convicted a licensed pharmacist and pharmacy owner of conspiracy for their role in an oxycodone distribution ring, according to a release by the Justice Department on Wednesday.
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Olushola Yusuf, 60, of Tampa was convicted on five counts of illegal drug distribution and conspiracy to illegally distribute drugs after an investigation found that she was selling oxycodone to nearly all of her customers at a series of locations she owned.
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The locations in Pembrooke Pines and in Margate were where Yusuf distributed at least 337,351 oxycodone 30mg pills, the highest available dosage, during the conspiracy. Yusuf reportedly charged upwards of 10x the typical cost of the drug and would require payment in cash. Some customers paid as much as $1000 a month for the pills, often on behalf of drug dealers who would further distribute the drugs.
“Pharmacists occupy a position of public trust and serve as a critical safeguard against the diversion of controlled substances,” said DEA Chief of Operations Matthew W. Allen. “By dispensing hundreds of thousands of oxycodone pills to virtually anyone willing to pay inflated cash prices, the defendant abandoned that responsibility, exploited addiction, and endangered lives for personal profit.”
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Yusuf and a co-defendant both plead guilty to the charges of conspiracy and are scheduled to be sentenced in October. Yusuf faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count.
Since 2007, the DOJ’s Health Care Fraud Stirke Force Program has charged more that 6,200 defendants who worked to defraud health care programs and insurers of more than $45 billion.
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