Press Release
Eastern Iowa Podiatrist Sentenced in Opioid Diversion Scheme
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Iowa
Wrote Phony Prescriptions to Acquaintances Who Gave Hydrocodone to Him
A podiatrist who wrote fraudulent hydrocodone prescriptions to acquaintances so that they would fill the prescriptions and give him pills was sentenced on November 6, 2020. Steven Walter Beevers, age 58, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was sentenced after pleading guilty to one count of acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, deception, and subterfuge.
Beevers was a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine who owned Podiatry Associates PC, which had locations in Delaware, Jones, and Linn Counties, Iowa. In a plea agreement, Beevers admitted he wrote over 100 false, fictitious, and fraudulent prescriptions for hydrocodone between January 2016 and December 2018 to four acquaintances, including an employee and a neighbor. Beevers used his State of Iowa Board of Podiatry license to write the phony prescriptions on the false pretense that the hydrocodone was necessary for his acquaintances’ medical conditions. The acquaintances then filled the prescriptions, with health insurance paying for the costs except for co-pays that Beevers offered to cover, and then gave some or all of the hydrocodone to Beevers. Beevers made false statements about his conduct to the Iowa Board of Podiatry investigators after his scheme was discovered.
Beevers was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Beevers was sentenced to five years of probation, including six months of home confinement, and 100 hours of community service. He must also pay a $20,000 fine.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tim Vavricek and investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Manchester Police Department. Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 20-CR-36. Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.
Updated November 12, 2020
Topic
Drug Trafficking
Component