Owner Of City Drug Co. in Maryville Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug and Firearms Charges

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – On July 19, 2018, Randall Scott Jenkins, 55, of Maryville, Tennessee, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to an Information charging him with two counts of aggravated theft of pre-retail medical products from City Drug Co., and one count of unlawfully possessing firearms and ammunition while being an unlawful user of a controlled substance.     

Sentencing is set for 10:00 a.m., Thursday, December 13, 2018.  Jenkins faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, for each of the aggravated drug theft charges.  He also faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on the firearms charge.  Additionally, he will be subject to supervision by U.S Probation for up to three years upon his release from prison.

According to the plea agreement on file with U.S. District Court, since approximately 2002 Jenkins was a licensed pharmacist and co-owner of City Drug Co.  In April 2018, surveillance cameras caught him, on two separate occasions, stealing bottles of pre-retail oxycodone from the controlled substance vault of the business.  Jenkins had no prescription for the oxycodone and subsequently admitted to stealing the drugs to satisfy his own personal addiction to the painkillers. 

In May 2018, law enforcement agents questioned Jenkins about additional stolen prescription painkillers, including empty prescription bottles.  While Jenkins admitted to having a drug addiction problem, he told investigators he did not keep “trophies,” referring to the empty prescription painkiller bottles. That same day, a bottle containing oxymorphone and a bottle containing oxycodone were found in his home, and a loaded semi-automatic pistol was found in his vehicle.  Jenkins had no valid prescription for either drug.  Later in May 2018, a federal search warrant executed at his home in Maryville, Tennessee, revealed hydrocodone in an unlabeled pill bottle, oxycodone in two pre-retail pill bottles hidden under clothes in his master bedroom, and 19 firearms and ammunition. 

“The U.S. Attorney’s office will continue to use all criminal and civil remedies available under federal law to combat the rapidly growing drug crisis in America,” said U.S. Attorney J. Douglas Overbey.  “Prescription opioids, such as oxycodone and oxymorphone, are potent, powerful, addictive and easily abused painkillers which are only available by a prescription issued by a licensed physician for a legitimate medical purpose. Our office will prosecute aggressively individuals in the health care industry, including physicians and pharmacists, who choose to abuse their authority and commit unlawful actions in furtherance of the opioid epidemic in east Tennessee,” added U.S. Attorney Overbey.

“This case reflects the level of cooperation between the men and women of the Drug Enforcement Administration and our law enforcement partners, as we work together to stop the diversion of dangerous pharmaceuticals,” said D. Christopher Evans, Special Agent In Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Louisville Field Division.  “The DEA is proud to participate in the Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit, and remains committed to using every weapon in our arsenal to combat America’s deadly opioid epidemic.”

Agencies involved in this investigation include DEA-Tactical Diversion Squad and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.  Assistant U.S. Attorney David Lewen, Jr. represents the United States in court proceedings.

In August 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the formation of the Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit to help combat the devastating opioid crisis that is ravaging families and communities across America. This unit focuses specifically on opioid-related health care fraud using data to identify and prosecute individuals that are contributing to this prescription opioid epidemic. Federal prosecutors, working with FBI, DEA, HHS, as well as state and local partners, will help target and prosecute these doctors, pharmacies, and medical providers who are furthering this epidemic to line their pockets. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee was one of 12, out of 94 districts across the country, chosen to participate in this program.

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