Score:   1
Docket Number:   ED-PA  2:19-cr-00132
Case Name:   USA v. MINTZ
  Press Releases:
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain and Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced that Richard Ira Mintz, D.O., 69, of Dresher, Pennsylvania was sentenced to one year and one day imprisonment, three years’ supervised release, and $100,000 fine by United States District Court Judge Michael Baylson for illegally distributing controlled substances.

The defendant pleaded guilty in March 2019 to eight counts of distributing controlled substances (oxycodone) outside the scope of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose. Mintz has surrendered his medical license and DEA Certificate of Registration. From approximately July 2016 through July 2018, Mintz worked at a medical practice in Philadelphia where he sold fraudulent and medically unnecessary oxycodone prescriptions. He wrote the prescriptions in the names of three individuals whom he had never met or examined.

“As our District is struggling under the weight of the opioid epidemic, this doctor used his prescription pad to harm rather than heal,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “He saw an opportunity to make money off of those struggling with addiction and took advantage of the situation out of sheer greed. Physicians who abuse their positions of trust within the community for financial gain will be held accountable by my Office.”

“Dr. Mintz pleaded guilty to federal drug distribution charges for selling prescriptions for powerful and addictive prescription painkillers such as oxycodone without any legitimate medical purpose and for profit,” said Jonathan A. Wilson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Philadelphia Field Division. “Medical doctors, like all DEA registrants that are entrusted with handling controlled substances, need to do so in accordance with good faith medical practice and for legitimate medical purposes.”

This case originated as part of a regional Medicare Fraud Strike Force that operates in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the District of New Jersey. The Strike Force is a joint initiative between the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country. Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which maintains 14 strike forces operating in 23 federal districts, has charged nearly 4,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $14 billion. 

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General (HHS – OIG), the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. Marshals’ Service, the Office of Pennsylvania Attorney General and the Philadelphia Police Department. Trial Attorney Adam G. Yoffie of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael S. Macko of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania handled the parallel civil case, in which defendant Mintz paid a $107,584 monetary penalty.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced today that Richard Ira Mintz, D.O., a Philadelphia-area doctor, has agreed to surrender his ability to practice medicine and pay a $107,584 penalty for prescribing OxyContin (oxycodone) and Xanax (benzodiazepine) to patients without a legitimate medical purpose. Dr. Mintz agreed to do so through a settlement agreement resolving the government’s civil claims against him under the Controlled Substances Act.

The settlement agreement arises from thirteen prescriptions that Dr. Mintz wrote between 2016 and 2018. Dr. Mintz allegedly sold these prescriptions for cash without any legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of his professional practice.

In March 2019, Dr. Mintz pleaded guilty to eight criminal counts of unlawfully distributing some of these prescriptions;this civil resolution encompasses additional prescriptions. The civil resolution also requires Dr. Mintz to pay the $107,584 monetary penalty, consent to a term of exclusion from federal health care programs, and give up his ability to practice medicine. To ensure that Dr. Mintz does not resume practicing medicine, he agreed to surrender his medical license and Drug Enforcement Administration Certificate of Registration and further agreed not to seek to renew or reinstate either one in the future.

The criminal case was prosecuted as part of a regional Medicare Fraud Strike Force that operates in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the District of New Jersey. The Strike Force is a joint initiative between the Department of Justice and Department of Health and Human Services to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud, and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country.

“This dual civil and criminal resolution is the latest example of how we will use all appropriate tools, both civil and criminal, to hold accountable anyone who breaks the law,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “By working together on parallel tracks, as appropriate, we can ensure an efficient administration of justice and a complete remedy for the harm. The public deserves nothing less.”

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability.

Assistant United States Attorney Michael S. Macko handled the civil case, working in parallel with Trial Attorney Adam Yoffie of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section who handled the criminal matter.

PHILADELPHIA – Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced today that Richard Ira Mintz, D.O., 69, of Dresher, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to eight counts of distributing controlled substances outside the scope of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose.

From approximately July 2016 through July 2018, Mintz worked at a medical practice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he sold fraudulent and medically unnecessary oxycodone prescriptions.  Mintz wrote the prescriptions in the names of three individuals whom he had never met or examined.

This case originated as part of a regional Medicare Fraud Strike Force that operates in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the District of New Jersey.  The Strike Force is a joint initiative between the Department of Justice and Department of Health and Human Services to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country.  Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which maintains 14 strike forces operating in 23 districts, has charged nearly 4,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $14 billion.   

“Richard Ira Mintz violated both his professional duty and the law by selling prescriptions for addictive opioids for individuals he never examined who had no medical need for the drugs,” said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski.  “Halting the deadly scourge of opioids requires aggressively pursuing corrupt medical professionals who contribute to the opioid epidemic — and that is precisely why we created this regional Strike Force.  I want to commend our prosecutors and all of our Strike Force partners for their ongoing work on this vital law enforcement priority.”

 “Instead of adhering to his oath to ‘do no harm,’ this doctor chose to use his prescription pad to do just the opposite: with every stroke of the pen, he pushed dangerous opioids onto the streets and turned an illegal profit,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain.  “As I stated at the launch of this new regional Strike Force partnership between the Department of Justice’s Criminal Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the District of New Jersey, combatting the opioid epidemic is a major priority of my Office. “Physicians who abuse their positions of trust within the community for financial gain will be held accountable by my Office.”

“Yet another long-time physician is caught illicitly pushing pills,” said Michael T. Harpster, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Philadephia Field Division.  “Despite all that education and experience, at some point Richard Mintz’s priorities shifted and his ethics lapsed.  Doctors dealing oxycodone to anyone who can pay for it are directly fueling the opioid crisis, and the FBI will continue to investigate and bring to justice medical professionals involved in this dangerous drug diversion.”  

“Prescribing deadly opioids without regard to the consequences simply cannot be tolerated,” said Maureen Dixon, Regional Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General.  “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold accountable criminals who scheme to profit from prescribing medically unnecessary drugs.”

“This case is just one of many examples of federal law enforcement agencies working in close cooperation with each other to investigate and prosecute doctors who are prescribing and dispensing controlled substance medications without any legitimate medical purpose,” said Jonathan Wilson, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration, Philadelphia Field Division.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the United States Marshals’ Service.  Trial Attorney Adam Yoffie of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is prosecuting the case.

Docket (0 Docs):   https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1omx1KdwPBlveSPXpx4PvYvVlyeSCG9oBNTrCDevUFwU
  Last Updated: 2023-10-20 16:04:31 UTC
Description: The fiscal year of the data file obtained from the AOUSC
Format: YYYY

Description: The code of the federal judicial circuit where the case was located
Format: A2

Description: The code of the federal judicial district where the case was located
Format: A2

Description: The code of the district office where the case was located
Format: A2

Description: Docket number assigned by the district to the case
Format: A7

Description: A unique number assigned to each defendant in a case which cannot be modified by the court
Format: A3

Description: A unique number assigned to each defendant in a case which can be modified by the court
Format: A3

Description: A sequential number indicating whether a case is an original proceeding or a reopen
Format: N5

Description: Case type associated with the current defendant record
Format: A2

Description: A concatenation of district, office, docket number, case type, defendant number, and reopen sequence number
Format: A18

Description: A concatenation of district, office, docket number, case type, and reopen sequence number
Format: A15

Description: The status of the defendant as assigned by the AOUSC
Format: A2

Description: A code indicating the fugitive status of a defendant
Format: A1

Description: The date upon which a defendant became a fugitive
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which a fugitive defendant was taken into custody
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date when a case was first docketed in the district court
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which proceedings in a case commenced on charges pending in the district court where the defendant appeared, or the date of the defendant’s felony-waiver of indictment
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: A code used to identify the nature of the proceeding
Format: N2

Description: The date when a defendant first appeared before a judicial officer in the district court where a charge was pending
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: A code indicating the event by which a defendant appeared before a judicial officer in the district court where a charge was pending
Format: A2

Description: A code indicating the type of legal counsel assigned to a defendant
Format: N2

Description: The title and section of the U.S. Code applicable to the offense committed which carried the highest severity
Format: A20

Description: A code indicating the level of offense associated with FTITLE1
Format: N2

Description: The four digit AO offense code associated with FTITLE1
Format: A4

Description: The four digit D2 offense code associated with FTITLE1
Format: A4

Description: A code indicating the severity associated with FTITLE1
Format: A3

Description: The FIPS code used to indicate the county or parish where an offense was committed
Format: A5

Description: The date of the last action taken on the record
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which judicial proceedings before the court concluded
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which the final sentence is recorded on the docket
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The date upon which the case was closed
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: The total fine imposed at sentencing for all offenses of which the defendant was convicted and a fine was imposed
Format: N8

Description: A count of defendants filed including inter-district transfers
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants filed excluding inter-district transfers
Format: N1

Description: A count of original proceedings commenced
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants filed whose proceedings commenced by reopen, remand, appeal, or retrial
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants terminated including interdistrict transfers
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants terminated excluding interdistrict transfers
Format: N1

Description: A count of original proceedings terminated
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants terminated whose proceedings commenced by reopen, remand, appeal, or retrial
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants pending as of the last day of the period including long term fugitives
Format: N1

Description: A count of defendants pending as of the last day of the period excluding long term fugitives
Format: N1

Description: The source from which the data were loaded into the AOUSC’s NewSTATS database
Format: A10

Description: A sequential number indicating the iteration of the defendant record
Format: N2

Description: The date the record was loaded into the AOUSC’s NewSTATS database
Format: YYYYMMDD

Description: Statistical year ID label on data file obtained from the AOUSC which represents termination year
Format: YYYY

Data imported from FJC Integrated Database
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