"City of Syrup"
Final two pharmacists sentenced in 'syrup' case
For filling phony prescriptions, they get prison terms of 10 and 12 years
By MELANIE MARKLEY
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
The final two of six Houston pharmacists convicted in October of conspiring to fill fake prescriptions for painkillers and codeine-laced cough syrup were handed prison sentences Wednesday.
John David Wiley III, 41, and Anthony Dwayne Essett, 39, were among the six pharmacists convicted of dispensing 2,500 gallons of promethazine with codeine, a highly addictive cough suppressant known on the street by such names as syrup, lean, purple and drank.
The trial helped illustrate why Houston became known as the "City of Syrup" among some members of America's rap culture. The drug's popularity even gave rise to a distinctive, Houston-bred style of rap music.
The six pharmacists also were found guilty of money laundering and filling phony prescriptions for 1.7 million pills of hydrocodone, a synthetic narcotic widely known by the brand name Vicodin.
They also were convicted of conspiracy to illegally dispense the drugs.
Wiley and Essett are co-owners of I-10 East Pharmaceutical Services.
U.S. District Judge David Hittner sentenced Wiley to 10 years in prison. Essett received a sentence of 12 years and seven months, and was fined $312,000.
The four other pharmacists convicted in the trial were sentenced earlier.
Otukayode Adeleke Otufale, owner of Med Stop Pharmacy on Hillcroft, was sentenced to 10 years.
Isaac Simeon Achobe, owner of American Choice Pharmacy on West Bellfort, received a 63-month term and was fined $5,000.
Chicha Kazembe Combs and Andre Dion Brown, co-owners of Mason Road Pharmacy in Katy, were each sentenced to 10 years.
According to testimony, the six pharmacists knowingly accepted fake prescriptions from Dr. Callie Hall Herpin, who pleaded guilty and testified for the prosecution.
Also named in the conspiracy were Etta Mae Williams, 47, Karen B. Williams, 40, Darryl Armstrong, 41, Paul Henry, 40, Omar Fahie, 24, Eric Craft, 38, and Will Bailey III, 36.
The remaining eight defendants are scheduled to be sentenced later this year.
2 comments:
That's friggin' nuts! You've never done anything like that, have you? hahaha...
I did have a friend who ended up doing time in the Federal pin. He was filling fake scripts for morphine tablets, charging them to the state under medicaid, and then trading them for cocaine. Needless to say he isn't a pharmacist anymore.
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