A local cardiologist and a woman who operate a Pennsylvania methadone clinic and was raid last fall are now charged with running a pill mill, according to reports.
The defendants, Dr. Dominic DiLeo and Rosalind Sugarmann, who are 67 and 64 years old respectively, are charged for allegedly distributing drugs that are not legally allowed for medical purposes.
According to ABC News, Sugarmann was the head of the Addiction Specialists clinic in North Union Township when it was burned down in fire last July which was during the time it was raided by federal agents. DiLeo, on the other hand, is practicing medicine in a nearby location.
DiLeo and Sugarmann were charged with 19 counts each of illegally dispensing Suboxone, a drug known to treat heroin and opiate addicts. While it is less addicting than heroin, it still produces the similar effect. Suboxone is also used to gradually wean users off from other illegal substances.
According to a report from Philly.com, the drug Suboxone can also be abused by addicts to get high. DiLeo and Sugarmann, according to federal prosecutors, both illegally supplied the drug to the same, unnamed person on a weekly basis which occurred from March until July. The supplies resumed in September until November.
DiLeo is also charged with four counts for supplying a different unnamed person the anti-anxiety drug, Xanax.
Each count DiLeo and Sugarmann face could give them ten years in jail.
Among many charges, Dileo was convicted of prescribing illegal painkillers while allegedly taking kickbacks to use it for his extramarital affairs.
In the 1990s, Dileo was jailed for 10 years for a Medicare fraud case, according to a report from FOX.
At present, Dileo couldn’t be reached for a comment. The contact number for the addiction clinic was already disconnected.
