Members of Fraudulent Prescription Drug Ring in St. John The Baptist Parish Plead Guilty

NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced that SHALLON DAVIS DUNMILES, together with LASHONDA MELANCON, DANYELLE TUCO, ANDREA STALKS, EBONY STEWART, CORTAZ WILLIAMS, and DANIELLE ANDERSON, have pled guilty on Wednesday, March 27, 2019 to charges stemming from their arrest in St. John the Baptist Parish last year. WILFRED PERRILLOUX pled separately on an earlier date.

According to Court documents, DUNMILES, a former employee at a medical clinic in Laplace, Louisiana and MELANCON pled guilty to conspiracy to possess and possess with the intent to distribute illicitly obtained prescription medications, including dextroamphetamine/Adderall, a Schedule II drug controlled substance, and promethazine with codeine, a Schedule V drug controlled substance, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and 846. The investigation revealed that during the course of the conspiracy, DUNMILES wrote approximately 148 fraudulent prescriptions using her former employer’s prescription pad. Together with MELANCON, DUNMILES distributed the prescriptions, often in exchange for money. The maximum penalty that DUNMILES and MELANCON face for the conspiracy to distribute is twenty years of imprisonment, a fine of up to $1,000,000, and at least three years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment.

PERRILLOUX, STALKS, STEWART, TUCO, WILLIAMS, and ANDERSON all pled guilty to conspiracy to acquire or obtain possession of the prescription medication by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception, or subterfuge, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 843(a) and 846.  The investigation revealed that these individuals were all involved with obtaining the fraudulent prescriptions from DUNMILES and MELANCON. The maximum penalty that they face is up to four years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and up to one year of supervised release.

The Court set sentencing hearings in this matter for April 25, 2019 for PERRILLOUX, June 26, 2019 for DUNMILES, MELANCON, and STALKS, and July 10, 2019 for STEWART, TUCO, WILLIAMS, and ANDERSON.

U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser also praised the work of the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Division and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Tactical Diversion Squad (TDS) in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Shirin Hakimzadeh is in charge of the prosecution.

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