Doctor, Pharmacist and Recruiter Sentenced in Opioid Diversion Conspiracy

HOUSTON – Three Houston residents have been ordered to federal prison for their roles in an oxycodone dispensation and distribution conspiracy, announced Acting United States Attorney Abe Martinez.

Dr. Richard Williams, 77, was a physician practicing general preventive medicine in the Houston area, while Agnes Osire, 51, was a pharmacist in the Houston area since 2008. Richard Flanagan, 63, was a recruiter who would find persons to act as patients to acquire prescriptions for oxycodone. All previously pleaded guilty their roles in the conspiracy.

Today, U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes ordered Williams to serve 60 months in federal prison. Osire received a sentence of 45 months, while Flanagan was sentenced to a 38-month-term of imprisonment.

Williams was responsible for the illicit issuance of prescriptions for oxycodone, resulting in the dispensation of more than 32,000 pills of 30-milligram-strength oxycodone in March and April 2014. He was aware that these prescriptions were not issued for a legitimate medical purpose and, on many occasions, pre-signed prescriptions knowing they would be used by others to acquire and sell for profit oxycodone pills.

According to her plea, Osire agreed to fill three prescriptions on April 8, 2014, and was paid in cash for filling these prescriptions. Each prescription was for 120 pills of 30-milligram strength oxycodone.

Flanagan, who admitted to being a recruiter, would take the so-called patients to pharmacies to get the prescriptions filled. He also sold the oxycodone pills for profit on the street. Evidence specifically demonstrated that Flanagan illegally acquired over 1,000 pills in March and April of 2014.

Williams and Osier was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future. Flanagan has been and will remain in custody.

The Tactical Diversion Squad of the Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan K. Best is prosecuting the case.