Nine Individuals Indicted In $28 Million Illegal Opioid Distribution Conspiracy Three Doctors and A Clinic Owner Among Those Indicted

An indictment was unsealed today charging nine individuals with conspiracy to illegally distribute prescription drugs, announced U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison.

U.S. Attorney Ison was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Cheyvoryea Gibson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Special Agent in Charge Mario Pinto, of the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).
Charged in the indictment are:
Dr. Charles Wasson, 70, Orchard Lake, MI Dr. Maurice Potts, 65, Detroit, MI
Dr. Bruce Kaplan, 83, Commerce Township, MI
Sharlene Dawson (aka Sharlene Crawford), 55, Detroit, MI Desiree King, 41, Sterling Heights, MI
Lanise Gortman, 53, Warren, MI Aaron Thomas, 42, Southfield, MI Valecia Logan, 33, Detroit, MI and Antoine Arnold, 38, Mt. Clemens, MI

The indictment alleges that from June 2021 through September 2024, Sharlene Dawson (aka Sharlene Crawford), owner of P&A Aftercare, located in Southfield, Michigan, hired Drs. Charles Wasson, Maurice Potts, and Bruce Kaplan to issue controlled substance prescriptions for a cadre of "fake" patients, without medical necessity and outside the usual course of professional medical practice, in exchange for cash payments. According to the indictment, the "fake" patients were recruited by Lanise Gortman, Aaron Thomas, Valecia Logan, and Antoine Arnold. These recruiters would fill the prescription at area pharmacies and sell the controlled substances on the street. The indictment further alleges that Desiree King ran the front office at P&A Aftercare and worked closely with the recruiters to facilitate the issuance of the controlled substance prescriptions.
The primary prescription controlled substances illegally prescribed by the doctors named in the indictment included Schedule II controlled substances Oxycodone, Oxycodone-Acetaminophen (Percocet), and Hydrocodone-Acetaminophen (Norco). While most of the unlawful controlled substance prescriptions were paid for in cash, both controlled and non-controlled

"maintenance" medications were billed to health care benefit programs by pharmacies. It is also alleged that billings to the Medicare and Medicaid programs for medically unnecessary prescription drug medications and maintenance medications during this conspiracy exceeded
$20 million.

The case was investigated by special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, and it is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lisandra Fernandez-Silber and Regina R. McCullough. The Eastern District of Michigan is one of the twelve districts included in the Opioid Fraud Abuse and Detection Unit, a Department of Justice initiative to combat the opioid epidemic.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Each defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.