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Press Release

Last Defendant Pleads Guilty in Opioid Pill Mill Case

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Texas
Dallas Man Also Sentenced

DALLAS — Carolina Giselle Berrio, a/k/a “Carolina Slocum Berrio,” “Karrie,” 37, of Lafayette, Louisiana appeared last week before U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater and pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge stemming from her involvement in a “pill mill” operation, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Specifically, Berrio pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. She faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine not to exceed $1 million. Sentencing is scheduled for June 16, 2017.

In March 2015, a federal grand jury in Dallas indicted 23 individuals, including Berrio, on offenses related to their participation in a prescription drug distribution conspiracy. That indictment alleged that from at least May 2013 through July 2014, the defendants participated in a scheme to illicitly obtain prescriptions for pain medications, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, and then distribute those controlled substances for profit. As part of the conspiracy, individuals, often homeless or of limited means, were recruited and paid to pose as patients at medical clinics, including the McAllen Medical Clinic in Dallas, to obtain prescriptions to fill those prescriptions at designated pharmacies.

To date, 29 defendants have pleaded guilty, including one doctor, one clinic owner, two pharmacists, and numerous co-conspirators, to their involvement in the conspiracy and several have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from probation to 48 months in federal prison.

According to plea documents filed for Berrio, on December 18, 2013, Berrio negotiated to purchase a quantity of oxycodone 30mg pills from co-conspirator Cornelius Robinson, her supplier. Robinson asked for a higher price to deliver the oxycodone to Berrio in Lafayette, Louisiana, and a lower price if Berrio picks up the pills in Houston. Robinson agreed to supply Berrio with oxycodone 30mg at $18.50 per pill, and Berrio agreed to pick up the pills in Houston, Texas. Berrio sought 300 oxycodone 30mg pills with the intent to distribute them at a later time.

In addition, Berrio admits to purchasing oxycodone 30 mg pills from Robinson in both May and March of 2014.

Co-defendant William Hopkins, a/k/a “New York,” 54 of Dallas, Texas was sentenced last week by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 5 years probation with intermittent confinement (weekend incarceration) for 52 weeks. Hopkins pleaded guilty in November 2016 to one count of unlawful use of a communication device.

According to documents filed for Hopkins, in a telephone call on August 15, 2013 Hopkins, a recruiter, admonishes a recruit to be available because a driver is trying to pick up the recruit to take him to the doctor’s office. Hopkins encourages the recruit to show up by saying, “This is your money,” meaning the recruit will be paid to go to the doctor’s office to obtain oxycodone or hydrocodone.

This Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Louisiana State Police, the Grand Prairie Police Department, the Dallas Police Department, the Houston Police Department, the Arlington Police Department, the Greenville Police Department, the Parker County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Diplomatic Security Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Walters prosecuted.

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Updated March 8, 2017

Topic
Drug Trafficking