West Bloomfield Pharmacist Pleads Guilty to Unlawful Distribution of Prescription Pills to Patient Who Died

A pharmacist, who formerly practiced in Mt. Clemens, pleaded guilty yesterday to unlawfully distributing prescription drug controlled substances to a patient who took the drugs and died, announced Acting United States Attorney Daniel Lemisch.

Lemisch was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Timothy Plancon, Drug Enforcement Administration, Detroit Field Division.

Richard Messerly, 72, of West Bloomfield, entered a guilty plea to one count of unlawful distribution of methadone and one count of unlawfully distributing Xanax (alprazolam), before United States District Judge George Caram Steeh.

During a hearing Messerly admitted that on November 9, 2015, he unlawfully provided a patient with both methadone and Xanax, without having a valid prescription for the drugs. The patient took the drugs and died later that same day. The government contends that the patient’s death was caused by the methadone unlawfully distributed by the defendant. Under the terms of the plea agreement, the defendant reserves the right to argue at sentencing that the patient’s death did not result from the methadone.

In addition, Messerly admitted responsibility in his plea agreement to unlawfully distributing over 60,000 dosage units of controlled drugs such as oxycodone, hydrocodone and morphine sulfate. All of these drugs are in the opiate class of drugs.

Based on his guilty plea Richard Messerly is facing a maximum of twenty-five years in prison and a fine of up to $1,250,000. The plea agreement projects that the advisory sentencing guidelines for his offenses will range from 108-135 months.

Sentencing of Masserly was set for November 20, 2017 at 2:30 pm.m..

The case was investigated by agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael Heesters.