Combating The Opioid Crisis

The United States faces an epidemic of overdoses and deaths from prescription and synthetic opioids, the Southern District of New York is committed to prosecuting those responsible for fueling this crisis. In addition to targeting street-level dealers and their suppliers, this Office has aggressively pursued medical professionals who divert these highly-addictive pills, including doctors, pharmacies, and a major drug distributor. 

• In April 2019, in the first prosecution of its kind, the Narcotics Unit charged one of the nation’s largest drug distributors, Rochester Drug Cooperative, and two of the company’s senior executives, with distributing drugs that helped fuel the opioid epidemic.  This case represents the first time executives of a pharmaceutical distributor and the distributor itself have been charged with drug trafficking.  The charges are a reminder to drug companies and drug distributors of their responsibilities to put public health before corporate profits and to adhere to the highest standards of ethics and compliance in placing dangerous pharmaceutical products in the marketplace.

The Narcotics Unit has been aggressive in prosecuting “dirty doctors” and other medical professionals who have helped to perpetuate the opioid crisis. 

• In October 2018, the Narcotics Unit charged five doctors, one pharmacist, and a physician’s assistant as part of a coordinated takedown of trusted health professionals who abused their positions to illegally sell oxycodone. The case against these defendants is pending.

• In December 2018, the Unit convicted a Staten Island doctor who prescribed millions of oxycodone pills to patients whom he knew had no legitimate need for the highly-addictive drug. 
• In March 2018, the Complex Frauds & Cybercrime Unit charged five Manhattan based doctors for accepting bribes and kickbacks from Insys, a pharmaceutical company, in exchange for prescribing Subsys, a potent fentanylbased spray. To date, four of the five doctors have been convicted; the remaining charged defendant is awaiting trial in this case.

In addition to pursuing medical professionals, the Office has redoubled its enforcement efforts by partnering with the New York City Police Department to establish the Overdose Response Initiative, which treats every overdose as a crime scene and aims to hold drug traffickers responsible for their roles in the opioid crisis.  The Narcotics Unit has secured convictions of multiple individuals who distributed drugs that caused overdoses. 

• In one such case, in December 2018, the Narcotics Unit secured a 25 year prison sentence, following the conviction at trial of an individual who sold heroin that resulted in two overdose deaths. 
• In May 2019, the Narcotics Unit convicted a Staten Island drug dealer who sold fentanyl-laced heroin that led to two overdoses, one of which resulted in the death of a 26-year-old man.