Queens Doctor Sentenced To 54 Months’ Imprisonment For Conspiracy To Distribute Oxycodone

Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York, Gracia L. Mayard, a Queens doctor, was sentenced to 54 months in prison and $20,000 forfeiture by United States District Judge Joseph F. Bianco. Mayard pleaded guilty to conspiring to illegally distribute oxycodone, a highly addictive prescription pain killer, on September 16, 2014.

The sentence was announced by Kelly T. Currie, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; James J. Hunt, Special Agent-in-Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, New York; Thomas C. Krumpter, Acting Commissioner, Nassau County Police Department; Joseph A. D’Amico, Superintendent, New York State Police; and Shantelle P. Kitchen, Special Agent-in-Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, New York.

“Dr. Mayard violated his oath and the law by illegally providing vast quantities of these powerful painkillers without medical necessity. Even after surrendering his DEA registration, he wrote a backdated prescription for oxycodone in an attempt to illegally provide pills,” stated Acting United States Attorney Currie. “Health care providers who act as drug dealers are on notice that they will face serious consequences.” Mr. Currie extended his grateful appreciation to each of the law enforcement agencies for their assistance in this case.

During his guilty plea allocution in September 2014, Mayard admitted that in 2012 and 2013, he provided prescriptions to a co-conspirator for patients he had not examined in exchange for cash and continued to write prescriptions after surrendering his DEA registration to prescribe controlled substances on February 7, 2013.

Oxycodone is a scheduled controlled substance that may be dispensed by medical professionals only for a legitimate medical purpose in the usual course of a doctor’s professional practice. It is a powerful and highly addictive drug and is increasingly abused because of its potency when crushed into a powder and ingested, leading to a heroin-like euphoria.

Mayard’s conviction is the latest in a series of federal prosecutions by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York as part of the Prescription Drug Initiative. In January 2012, this Office and the DEA, in conjunction with the five District Attorneys in this jurisdiction, the Nassau and Suffolk County Police Departments, the New York City Police Department, and New York State Police, along with other key federal, state, and local government partners, launched the Prescription Drug Initiative to mount a comprehensive response to what the United States Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Disease Control and Prevention has called an epidemic increase in the abuse of so-called opioid analgesics. So far, the Initiative has brought over 160 federal and local criminal prosecutions, including the prosecution of 15 health care professionals, taken civil enforcement actions against a hospital, a pharmacy, and a pharmacy chain, removed prescription authority from numerous rogue doctors, and expanded information-sharing among enforcement agencies to better target and pursue drug traffickers. The Initiative also is involved in an extensive community outreach program to address the abuse of pharmaceuticals.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Long Island Criminal Division. Assistant United States Attorney Allen Bode is in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendant:

Name: GRACIA L. MAYARD

Age: 63

Residence: Queens, NY