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Doctor And Nurse Practitioner Among Three Defendants Charged In Manhattan Federal Court For Oxycodone And Fentanyl Diversion Scheme

Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, James J. Hunt, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA"), James P. O'Neill, the Commissioner of the Police Department for the City of New York ("NYPD"), and Mark G. Peters, the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation ("DOI"), today announced the arrests of ERNESTO LOPEZ, a New York-licensed doctor who wrote thousands of medically unnecessary prescriptions for oxycodone and fentanyl patches over an approximately three-year period, SHARON WASHINGTON-BHAMRE, a pediatric nurse practitioner who also wrote medically unnecessary prescriptions for oxycodone, and AUDRA BAKER, an employee at one of LOPEZ's medical offices who helped facilitate the diversion scheme. All three defendants are charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and were arrested earlier this morning. The defendants will be presented in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara C. Moses later today.

Read more on www.justice.gov

Action Details

  • Date:November 2, 2017
  • Agency:U.S. Attorney
  • Enforcement Types:
    • Criminal and Civil Actions