Montgomery County Oxycodone Distributor Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang sentenced Richard Michael Mathisen, age 29, of Rockville, Maryland today to nine years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiring to distribute oxycodone and ordered him to pay a $60,000 fine. 

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge William P. McMullan of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; and Chief J. Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County Police Department.  

According to court documents and evidence presented at the sentencing hearing, from at least 2013 through at least September 25, 2014, Mathisen arranged for co-conspirators to obtain magnetic resonance imaging scans (MRIs), and take them to another co-conspirator to manipulate the MRIs to make them appear as though the co-conspirators required prescriptions for pain medication.   After the co-conspirators used the altered MRIs to obtain prescriptions for oxycodone, they either gave or sold oxycodone to Mathisen who used some of the oxycodone for himself and distributed some of the oxycodone to others. 

During the two day sentencing hearing, the court determined that Mathisen was a manager or supervisor of the conspiracy, which included between 60,000 and 105,000 grams of oxycodone.  The court also determined that Mathisen had possessed a firearm during drug trafficking.

The government also introduced evidence relating to the death of a young woman on July 12, 2014 at Mathisen’s residence as a result of oxycodone and alcohol intoxication after ingesting oxycodone at Mathisen’s residence.  The court found that the woman died as a result of the drug conspiracy.

Philip Rice D’Avanzo, age 29, of Bethesda, Maryland, pleaded guilty to his participation in the drug conspiracy and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 14, 2016 at 2:00 p.m.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised ATF and Montgomery County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Mara Zusman Greenberg, who prosecuted the case.