Berea Pharmacist Sentenced To 30 Years For Illegally Dispensing Prescription Pills And Pseudoephedrine And Money Laundering

Defendant was responsible for illegally distributing hundreds of thousands of pills

and thousands of boxes of pseudoephedrine

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A Berea pharmacist, who was convicted of 71 counts involving the illegal dispensing of oxycodone, hydrocodone, and pseudoephedrine, was sentenced today to 30 years in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves sentenced Lonnie Hubbard, age 41, for 57 counts involving the illegal dispensing of controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose and dispensing pseudoephedrine knowing it would be used to manufacture methamphetamine; maintaining a drug involved premises; and 13 counts involving money laundering.

Hubbard’s sentencing followed his conviction after an eight-day jury trial.

According to evidence presented at trial, from 2010 until 2015, Hubbard, who owned RX Discount Pharmacy of Berea, sold prescription pain pills, without a legitimate medical purpose, and pseudoephedrine, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that it was being used to manufacture methamphetamine. Many of the individuals Hubbard sold to were addicts and drug traffickers from Madison, Rockcastle, Laurel, Clay and other counties in central and eastern Kentucky.

The evidence further established that many of Hubbard’s customers visited pain clinics in Florida, Ohio, Tennessee, and Georgia, to obtain illegitimate prescriptions from irreputable clinics. Hubbard would charge $600 to $1,000 to fill the prescriptions, which included excessive amounts of oxycodone. According to trial testimony, Hubbard also sold multiple boxes of pseudoephedrine at a time, at excessive prices, to drug addicts and traffickers. From 2013 to 2015, Hubbard’s pharmacy was the number one independent pharmacy retailer of pseudoephedrine in Kentucky.

Hubbard’s pharmacy clients testified that RX Discount was one of the only places in Kentucky that would fill their out of state prescriptions for pain medication.

More than twenty doctors from Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee, who wrote the illegal prescriptions related to this case, have surrendered their medical license, been indicted, or are currently under investigation.

The evidence also revealed that Hubbard made approximately $2.2 million in cash from the illegal drug sales and used that money to buy three residences, a boat, several luxury vehicles, a motorcycle, two watercraft, and a super ATV.

Hubbard’s wife, Meggan, is currently incarcerated, serving five months’ imprisonment for her involvement in purchasing property with funds from the unlawful sales of the prescription drugs and pseudoephedrine. Her imprisonment will be followed by five months’ home detention. Three other co-defendants have also pleaded guilty and been sentenced.

Carlton S. Shier, IV, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Timothy J. Plancon, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration; and Tracey D. Montaño, Special Agent in Charge, IRS, Criminal Investigation Division, jointly announced the sentence. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ron Walker, Katherine Crytzer, and Lauren Bradley.