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Eight sentenced for massive pill mill operation

By Palm Beach Business.com

WEST PALM BEACH — Eight more Palm Beach County and Broward residents have pleaded guilty to racketeering and drug-related charges in connection with the operation of four pills mills in the two counties. The eight were among 32 defendants charged as a result of Operation Oxy Alley, an investigation into South Florida pain clinics.

On Friday, Federal Judge Kenneth A. Marra sentenced four defendants, all of whom had pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy:

— Theodore Obermeyer 30 of West Palm Beach, to 144 months in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release.

— Pedro Martinez 35 of Royal Palm Beach, to 60 months in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release.

 — Dr. Vernon Atreidis 46 of Fort Lauderdale, to 66 months in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release.

— Jack Martin 48 of North Palm Beach, to 9 months in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release.

Last month,  Marra sentenced four other defendants:

— Andrew Harrington 31 of Deerfield Beach, to 97 months in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release. Harrington pleaded guilty on Oct. 3 to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

— Daryl Michael Stewart 44 of West Palm Beach, to 135 months in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release. Stewart pleaded guilty on Sept. 29 to one count of racketeering conspiracy.

— Derik Nolan 34 of Wellington was sentenced to 168 months in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release. Nolan pleaded guilty on Oct. 5, to one count of racketeering conspiracy.

— Matthew Siss, 25, of Jupiter, was sentenced to 9 months in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release. Siss pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy on Oct 6.

Court documents alleged that defendants Christopher and Jeffrey George, twin brothers, operated, managed and financed four pain management clinics in Broward and Palm Beach Counties. These clinics, which prosecutors alleged were nothing but pill mills created to illegally distribute prescription drugs, sold about 20 million oxycodone pills and made more than $40 million from the illegal sales of controlled substances. Thirteen of the thirty-two defendants were doctors.

At present, twenty-eight of the thirty-two defendants named in the indictment have pleaded guilty, including clinic owners Christopher and Jeffrey George. The sentencing hearings are scheduled to continue throughout January and February.