Prescribed opiate pain medications outside the course of professional medical practice and without a legitimate medical purpose to multiple patients
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A Franklin, Kentucky, physician was convicted today on 15 counts of illegal distribution of controlled substances by way of prescribing opiate pain medications outside of the course of professional medical practice and without a legitimate medial purpose, announced United States Attorney Russell M. Coleman.
“Kentucky families rely on our doctors to ‘do no harm,’ however, in this case, a Western Kentucky doctor was no more than a drug dealer in a white coat,” stated United States Attorney Russell Coleman. “As much as we respect the medical profession, this is a warning to physicians who purposefully overprescribe pain pills without a legitimate medical purpose - you will lose your medical license and ultimately serve time in federal prison.”
Roy D. Reynolds, age 69, was convicted following a nine day trial, before United States District Court Judge Greg N. Stivers. Reynolds was taken into federal custody following the announcement of the verdict.
Reynolds was a doctor practicing in Franklin, Kentucky, in Simpson County during the time of the illegal activity. Reynolds was the treating physician to patient Jackie Hughes at the time of Hughes’s death and prescribed opioids including oxycodone, hydrocodone, and Xanax to an additional four patients, without a legitimate medical purpose, who were not considered good candidates for opioids. The patients had medical histories of mental illness, doctor-shopping, and additional risk factors for opiate abuse and addiction.
According to evidence presented at trial, from 2010 to 2013, the covered period of the illegal activity, Dr. Reynolds prescribed more Oxycodone than any other primary care prescriber in Simpson County and ranked among the top 5% of prescribers in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Specifically, in 2011, Reynolds prescribed 132,372 oxycodone pills (second most prescribed oxycodone pills by a primary care physician in Simpson County was 9,765) and in 2012 Reynolds prescribed 139,667 pills (second most oxycodone pills prescribed by a primary care physician in Simpson County was 11,794). In February of 2013, Reynolds lost his DEA license to prescribe opiate pain medications. However, during the first five week period, Reynolds prescribed more opiate pain medications than any other Simpson County physician prescribed during 2013.
In 2011, Reynolds’ patient, Jackie Hughes, had a history of illegal drug usage and psychiatric issues which were documented in the patient charts. Further, Hughes had a KASPER report also suggesting opiate abuse and diversion. Although Hughes made various somatic complaints, Dr. Reynolds never objectively documented a legitimate source of pain. Reynolds supplied Hughes with opioids and benzodiazepines for over ten years – when an opiate centric treatment plan was contraindicated because of risk factors inherent with a history of drug abuse.
Nonetheless, Dr. Reynolds placed Hughes on a regimen of chronic opiate therapy, and did not monitor or enforce patient accountability, (did not perform urine screens or pill counts), and did not attempt to wean Hughes off opiates. Between February 2009 and April 2011, Dr. Reynolds repeatedly prescribed oxycodone, a Schedule II controlled substance, and Xanax, a Schedule IV controlled substance, to Hughes outside the course of professional medical practice and without a legitimate medical purpose.
Reynolds is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stivers, on July 31, 2018, at 9:30am CST, in Bowling Green.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David Weiser and Rob Bonar with assistance from paralegals Mary Kennedy and Jane Bauer, and is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Kentucky State Police, and the Kentucky Office of Inspector General, Division of Audits and Investigations, Drug Enforcement and Professional Practice Branch.
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Dr. Michael Lee Cummings, 64, of Albany, Kentucky, was sentenced on July 24, 2019, to 30 months of prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a fine of $400,000, by District Court Judge Greg Stivers, First Assistant United States Michael A. Bennett announced today. Cummings was also ordered to reimburse the Bureau of Prisons for the costs of his incarceration.
Cummings was originally indicted on April 12, 2017, and on March 19, 2019, he pleaded guilty to 13 counts of illegally prescribing controlled substances outside the course of professional medical practice and without a legitimate medical purpose.
Dr. Cummings ran a family practice in Albany for many years. A federal investigation began in 2015 after a Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure expert found that Dr. Cummings’s treatment of several patients fell below minimum standards of care, and after the Clinton County Coroner noticed several overdose deaths involving Dr. Cummings’ patients, according to a Sentencing Memo filed before the Court. The federal investigation revealed that patients drove from as far as Indianapolis to obtain prescriptions from Dr. Cummings.
According to the Sentencing Memo, the investigation further discovered that every single year from 2009 through 2014, Dr. Cummings was in the top 1% of all Kentucky primary care prescribers for Oxycodone, hydrocodone, and benzodiazepines. Between 2009 and 2014, Dr. Cummings wrote prescriptions for an average of over 249,000 oxycodone pills, 438,000 hydrocodone pills, and 347,000 benzodiazepine pills per year. Each year from 2009 through 2014, Dr. Cummings prescribed approximately 10 times as many hydrocodone and benzodiazepine pills as the average Kentucky primary care prescriber, and approximately 20 times the number of Oxycodone pills as the average Kentucky primary care prescriber. In 2012, for example, Dr. Cummings wrote enough prescriptions to provide every man, woman, and child in Albany with 230 hydrocodone pills, 134 Oxycodone pills, and 178 benzodiazepine pills, the Sentencing Memo said.
As part of the investigation, medical experts reviewed several of Dr. Cummings’s patient charts and found, amongst other things, that Dr. Cummings: 1) failed to establish an objective pain diagnosis; 2) failed to establish treatment plans and goals; 3) excessively prescribed “highly addictive drugs” without sufficient documentation; 4) failed to take action even when patients failed urine drug screens and pills counts; 5) failed to take action when KASPER reports were suspicious for drug abuse; 6) prescribed dangerous combinations of controlled and non-controlled substances; and 7) continued to prescribe opioids and benzodiazepines to patients for years without evidence of clinical improvement, which was detailed in the Sentencing Memo before the Court.
For example, on August 26, 2010, Dr. Cummings’ noted that his office received a report that his patient, S.F., was “selling oxy.” On October 20, 2010, Dr. Cummings received another report that S.F. was “selling meds.” Nonetheless, Dr. Cummings continued refilling S.F.’s prescriptions, and on December 20, 2010, Dr. Cummings inexplicably doubled S.F.’s prescription for oxycodone. Moreover, on December 20, 2010, Dr. Cummings also prescribed Xanax for S.F., even though S.F.’s urine drug screen reflected that S.F. tested negative for the Xanax Dr. Cummings had prescribed in November.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David Weiser and Ann Marie Blaylock, and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Kentucky State Police, and the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Office of the Inspector General.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – John F. Johnson, aka, “Grandmaster Jay” has been charged via criminal complaint with assaulting federal task force officers, announced United States Attorney Russell Coleman.
“Here in Kentucky we revere our First and Second Amendment freedoms, not foolishness which puts police and protesters at grave risk,” said U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman.
“The FBI respects the rights of individuals to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights," said FBI Louisville Division SAC Robert Brown. "Our mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution is dual and simultaneous, not contradictory. Accordingly, we are committed to investigating violent behavior and those who are exploiting legitimate, peaceful protests and engaging in violations of federal law.”
Johnson, 57, of West Chester, Ohio, was arrested at his home on December 3, 2020. He appeared before a federal judge in Louisville this afternoon.
According to the criminal complaint, Johnson forcibly assaulted, resisted, opposed, impeded, intimidated, and interfered with federally deputized task force officers while they were engaged in or on account of the performance of official duties, when Johnson aimed a rifle at them on September 4, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Johnson brandished an AR platform rifle at federally deputized Task Force Officers for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) the U.S. Secret Service, and Louisville Metro Police Department officers. The task force officers were on the roof of the Jefferson County Grand Jury Building keeping watch on Jefferson Square Park where there was armed protestors gathering.
Upon arriving at the eastern edge of the roof, the officers and task force officers began their surveillance. A short time after initiating surveillance, some of the officers were blinded by a light which they shortly thereafter determined was a flashlight mounted to the rifle being aimed at them by Johnson.
According to the complaint, the officers and task force officers advised they all perceived a threat from Johnson based on him aiming his rifle at them. All officers advised they were concerned Johnson might intentionally, or even accidentally, discharge a round at them. All officers recognized that the distance between themselves and Johnson was well within the effective range of an AR platform style rifle. Two of the officers advised that they were wearing their LMPD soft body armor, with “Police” semi-reflective placard identifying them, the night of September 4, 2020. None of the officers had drawn their handguns and only one of the officers had a rifle with him, which he did not point at Johnson or the NFAC members on Armory Place. All Officers advised that neither Johnson nor the other NFAC members perceived a threat from the officers on the roof, because neither Johnson or the other NFAC members moved to cover when they saw the officers on the roof of the Jefferson County Grand Jury Building.
If convicted at trial, the statutory maximum sentence is 20 years in federal prison.
A federal complaint is a written statement of the essential facts of the offense charged and must be made under oath before a U.S. Magistrate Judge. The charge set forth in a complaint is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a Court of law.
The FBI Louisville Division and Louisville Metro Police Department are investigating this case.
This case falls with the purview of the Attorney General’s Task Force to Combat Violent Anti-Government Extremism. Launched in June 2020, the Task Force is dedicated to supporting the investigation and prosecution of any person or group who commits violence in the name of an anti-government ideology.
WASHINGTON – A Texas man was sentenced to prison today for assaulting law enforcement during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.
Jason Farris, 45, of Arlington, Texas, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and 24 months of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson. Farris pleaded guilty to one count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers on Oct. 27, 2023.
According to court documents, Farris traveled from Dallas, Texas, to Washington, D.C., to attend the ‘Stop the Steal” rally at the Ellipse. After the rally, Farris marched with a group of protestors to the U.S. Capitol building and made his way to the Lower West Plaza on the Capitol grounds. Here, Farris advanced to the front of a mob of rioters and directly confronted a group of police officers assembled in a line. Farris approached the officers and stated to the police officers, “I bet your family is proud of you, f— f— ass. You ain’t shit. Ain’t none of you shit.” As he said this, Farris hit the baton held by one of the police officers.
Moments later, other rioters grabbed one of the metal bicycle racks being used by the police and attempted to pull it away. Several police officers held onto the bicycle rack to prevent it from being taken by rioters. Farris then approached an officer from behind and shoved him with two hands, knocking him to the ground. The officer fell and released the bicycle rack barricade, allowing rioters to remove it into the crowd. After the officer was helped to their feet, moments later, a rioter in the crowd threw a large wooden beam, which struck the officer in the head. The impact of the object knocked the officer to the ground and caused them to lose consciousness briefly. Two days later, the officer was diagnosed with a concussion.
After Farris assisted the other rioters to remove the bike rack barrier, this created a gap in the police line, which officers attempted to fill with their bodies. But despite the officers’ efforts, rioters succeeded in overwhelming the police and surged through the gap that Farris had helped to create, flooding into the West Plaza of the Capitol. The police line then retreated, and many of these rioters subsequently entered the Capitol building.
Farris advanced deeper into the Capitol grounds with the mob, climbed up the external stairs, and joined a mob on the Upper West Terrace. Here, Farris mounted a mechanical window-washing platform that was suspended from the roof of the West side of the Capitol building. Farris and two other men caused the platform to ascend the side of the building while members of the crowd below cheered. While on the window-washing platform, Farris used a flagpole to hit a window of the Capitol building several times in an apparent effort to break it.
Farris later entered the Capitol and remained a short while before leaving.
The FBI arrested Farris on Feb. 6, 2023, in Arlington.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section prosecuted this case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas provided valuable assistance.
The FBI’s Dallas and Washington Field Offices investigated this case. The Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Capitol Police provided valuable assistance.
In the 37 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,313 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 469 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – United States District Court Judge Greg N. Stivers sentenced Franklin, Kentucky, physician, Roy D. Reynolds, to federal prison for 50 months with no probation in the federal system on 15 counts of illegal distribution of controlled substances by way of prescribing opiate pain medications outside of the course of professional medical practice and without a legitimate medical purpose, announced United States Attorney Russell M. Coleman.
“What this conviction is not,” stated U.S. Attorney Russell “is targeting of a physician who prescribed opioids in the course of professional practice and for a legitimate medical purpose. It is, however, sending a doctor to federal prison who became a drug dealer with a medical license. Our Commonwealth is blessed with many ethical and responsible medical practitioners; Roy Reynolds is not one of those”
Roy D. Reynolds was a doctor practicing in Franklin, Kentucky, in Simpson County during the time of the illegal activity. Reynolds was treating patient Jackie Hughes at the time of his death; court records show Reynolds doubled Hughes’ prescription for oxycodone twice in his final five-months alive. Reynolds also prescribed oxycodone, hydrocodone and Xanax to an additional four patients without a legitimate medical purpose. Those patients had medical histories of mental illness, doctor-shopping, and additional risk factors for opiate abuse and addiction.
One former patient had five drug overdoses while under Reynolds’s care, yet he continued to prescribe opioids and benzodiazepines after each overdose. Reynolds took his patient, Hughes, to a rock concert and saw that Hughes was high, and later admitted in a letter that “we reminisced this frequently . . . about how he was snowed the evening we went to Nashville.” Nonetheless, Dr. Reynolds continued prescribing opioids to Jackie Hughes until the patient died of an overdose.
From 2010 through 2012, the period of illegal activity covered at trial, Dr. Reynolds was in the top 2 percent of all Kentucky doctors for oxycodone prescriptions, the top 5 percent for hydrocodone prescriptions, and the top 4 percent for benzodiazepine prescriptions. In 2011, Reynolds prescribed 132,372 oxycodone pills (second most prescribed oxycodone pills by a primary care physician in Simpson County was 9,765) and in 2012 Reynolds prescribed 139,667 pills (second most oxycodone pills prescribed by a primary care physician in Simpson County was 11,794). In February of 2013, Reynolds lost his DEA license to prescribe opiate pain medications. However, during the first five week period, Reynolds prescribed more opiate pain medications than any other Simpson County physician prescribed during 2013. Reynold was convicted April 23, 2018 on 15 counts of illegal distribution of controlled substances by way of prescribing opiate pain medications outside of the course of professional medical practice following a nine day trial.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David Weiser and Rob Bonar with assistance from paralegals Mary Kennedy and Jane Bauer, and was being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Kentucky State Police, the Kentucky Office of Inspector General, Division of Audits and Investigations, Drug Enforcement and Professional Practice Branch.
