Grant County Doctor Sentenced To 151 Months For Drug Trafficking

Federal jury found physician guilty of 173 drug trafficking offenses

COVINGTON, Ky. – Dr. Sundiata El-Amin, 69, of Ft. Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced today to 151 months in federal prison, by United States District Judge David L. Bunning, for 173 drug trafficking offenses. Dr. El-Amin was also ordered to pay a special assessment of $17,300.

Dr. El-Amin was previously convicted by a federal jury of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, maintaining a premises for the distribution of controlled substances, and 171 individual counts of distributing controlled substances, in March 2018.  According to the evidence presented, Dr. El-Amin conspired with his office manager to unlawfully dispense more than 300,000 oxycodone tablets, outside the scope of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose, over a period of approximately one year.  The evidence further established that he repeatedly issued improper prescriptions for high doses of oxycodone and regularly issued the prescriptions without examining patients.          

Dr. El-Amin was indicted in December of 2015.  His office manager, Wendy Price, entered a guilty plea in February 2018 to charges of conspiring with Dr. El-Amin to commit the offenses.  Under federal law, Dr. El-Amin must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence; and upon his release, he will be under the supervision of the United States Probation Office for 3 years.

“The sentence imposed reflects the seriousness of the offense,” stated Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky.  “The Defendant’s unnecessary prescribing of oxycodone damaged our communities and helped fuel the opioid epidemic.  Our Office will continue to prioritize prosecuting these important cases.”

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Timothy J. Plancon, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, jointly made the announcement.  The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration.  The United States was represented by Assistant United States Attorneys Tony Bracke and Laura Voorhees.