Bethesda Doctor Sentenced to Over a Year in Federal Prison for Unlawfully Distributing Controlled Substances

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Court Judge Theodore D. Chuang sentenced Anissa Maroof, 48, of Potomac, Maryland, to 15 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, for distributing and dispensing controlled substances. After she is released from prison, Maroof will serve the first nine months of supervised release on home detention.

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentence with Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) – Baltimore Field Office, and Chief Marc R. Yamada, Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD).

According to the facts Maroof admitted in her guilty plea, between approximately January 2019 and June 2022, Maroof knowingly caused the distributing and dispensing of Alprazolam (commonly referred to as Xanax), Amphetamine-dextroamphetamine (commonly referred to as Adderall), and Buprenorphine. She committed this act with the knowledge that distributing and dispensing the controlled substances were outside the scope of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose.

Maroof, a physician who was board certified in addiction psychiatry, owned and operated a medical practice in Bethesda, Maryland. She also had a Drug Enforcement Administration registration number that authorized her to prescribe controlled substances.

Through her medical practice, which was located in Maryland, Maroof provided patients from West Virginia with prescriptions for controlled substances, including Alprazolam, Amphetamine-dextroamphetamine, and Buprenorphine.  Maroof prescribed patients combinations of Alprazolam, Amphetamine-dextroamphetamine, and Buprenorphine without warning them about the risks of combining these medications.  She also prescribed controlled substances to patients even after they indicated that they were selling their excess supply of controlled substances through illicit channels.

Additionally, Maroof regularly prescribed controlled substances to patients without providing them with therapeutic services.  On numerous occasions, Maroof called in prescriptions to local pharmacies without first seeing the patient, and then she directed the patient to leave cash under her office door in exchange for writing the prescriptions.  She also often advised patients how to split filling their prescriptions between different pharmacies.

U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the FBI and MCPD for their work in the investigation.  Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Sarma and Elizabeth Wright who prosecuted the federal case.

For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, visit justice.gov/usao-md and justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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