April 22, 2008
For more information contact:
Managing Assistant U.S. Attorney Dixie A. Morrow
(850) 444-4000
PENSACOLA PAIN CLINIC MANAGER AND FLORIDA
DOCTOR ENTER PLEAS IN PRESCRIPTION DRUG CONSPIRACY
Pensacola, Florida - United States Attorney Gregory R. Miller, Northern District of Florida, announced today that Mark E. Artigues, 46, New Orleans, Louisiana, Manager of “Global Pain Management,” “Controlled Pain Management, LLC,” and “Chronic Pain Management Clinic,” and Dr. Rogelio T. Martinez, 67, Pensacola, Florida, a licensed physician who prescribed to patients through the clinics, entered guilty pleas yesterday in United States District Court
Artigues pleaded guilty to all three counts of the indictment which alleges that Dr. Martinez was a physician licensed to practice by the State of Florida, and possessed a Drug Enforcement Administration registration number that authorized him to prescribe controlled substances. Dr. Martinez pleaded guilty to the conspiracy to unlawfully distribute controlled pain medications. The indictment further alleges that Artigues managed a succession of pain management clinics at the same location on Navy Boulevard. Dr. Martinez was employed by Artigues as a prescribing physician at “Chronic Pain Management Clinic, LLC.” Count One of the indictment charges that from at least April 1, 2005 through December 31, 2006, Artigues, Martinez and two other physicians purported to provide “pain management” treatment for chronic pain patients through the clinic, when, in truth and fact, they did not operate a legitimate medical practice but instead engaged in a conspiracy to unlawfully dispense controlled pain medications including Oxycontin, Dilaudid, Roxicodone, Oxycodone, Lortab, Methadone, and others in exchange for cash office visit fees. Count Two of the indictment alleges a money laundering conspiracy during the same period of time, alleging that Artigues engaged in financial transactions designed in whole or in part to promote the carrying on of the conspiracy to unlawfully dispense controlled substances. Artigues is charged alone in Count Three with possessing, using, and carrying a firearm in furtherance of the controlled substances conspiracy.
Both are set for sentencing before United States District Judge Casey Rodgers in Pensacola on July 17, 2008. Trial of the remaining co-defendants, Dr. Bernard Klug and Dr. Osler Rivas, both licensed physicians alleged to have prescribed to patients through Artigues’ clinic, remains scheduled for June 2, 2008. An indictment is merely a formal charge by the grand jury. The co-defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in United States District Court.
The indictment was the result of a multi-year Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Operation named “Doc-in-a-Box,” investigated by agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, and Florida Department of Law Enforcement, together with deputies of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Randall J. (Randy) Hensel and Assistant United States Attorney Edwin F. (Ed) Knight.
The controlled substances conspiracy carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment, a $1,000,000.00 fine, and 5 years of supervised release. The money laundering conspiracy carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment, a $250,000.00 fine, not greater than twice the gain or twice the gross loss, and 3 years of supervised release. The firearms charge carries a minimum mandatory penalty of 5 years imprisonment consecutive to any other sentenced imposed.