A gynecologist and a pharmacist pleaded guilty to operating an Atlanta-area “pill mill” that supplied illegal prescriptions to addicts and drug dealers, federal officials said Tuesday.
Anthony Mills, 56, a licensed physician since 1997 with a specialty in gynecology, pleaded guilty Aug. 8 to two counts of conspiracy to unlawfully dispense and distribute controlled substances, authorities said.
Raphael Ogunsusi, who officials said was a licensed pharmacist and operated Evansmill Pharmacy in Lithonia and Retox Pharmacy in Conyers, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to unlawfully dispense and distribute controlled substances and money laundering.
“Individuals like these defendants who operated a ‘pill mill’ are nothing more than drug dealers who are licensed to wear white coats and carry stethoscopes,” said Robert Murphy, a special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration in Atlanta. “They will now face the consequences for their criminal actions.”
Since at least October 2018, Mills operated a pill mill out of his Atlanta home, where he issued prescriptions for controlled substances such as oxycodone to addicts and drug dealers for cash, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia said in a news release.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
According to authorities, Mills did not obtain medical records, conduct physical exams or establish a patient-physician relationship before giving the prescriptions. Some individuals receiving prescriptions never even met Mills. Others were using stolen identities and names of people incarcerated or dead to obtain pills, the office said.
Many of the prescriptions written by Mills were filled by Ogunsusi through his two pharmacies, authorities said. Ogunsusi knew that Mills operated an illegal business, officials said, but he still filled the prescriptions.
Ogunsusi accepted cash payments of about $500 to $900 in exchange for filling the illegal prescriptions, such as Percocet and oxycodone, the office said. Ogunsusi also falsified the pricing information on pharmacy computers to make it appear as if they were being sold for market value.
Officials said Ogunsusi required people to purchase additional non-controlled substances as a condition for filling illegal prescriptions in order to maximize profits.
“Mills and Ogunsusi are now admitted drug dealers who violated the public’s trust by engaging in black-market sales of staggering amounts of dangerous opioid pills,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan said.
Three others — Moses Kirigwi, Brittany Tinker and Keandre Bates — also pleaded guilty to conspiring with Mills and Ogunsusi, according to authorities. Criminal charges remain pending against eight other defendants.
Mills, Bates and Kirigwi will be sentenced in February. Sentencing for Ogunsusi and Tinker has not been scheduled.
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