30 years and $4.47 million: Berea pharmacist sentenced, court imposes civil penalty
It took a jury three hours of deliberation following an eight-day trial to return a guilty verdict against a former Berea pharmacist. On Friday, Lonnie Hubbard was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for illegally dispensing prescription pills and pseudoephedrine and money laundering.
The U.S. District Court also has entered a civil judgment for $4,474,000, in favor of the United States and against Hubbard and his pharmacy, assessing civil penalties against them for illegally selling 100-count bottles of pseudoephedrine and failing to comply with other laws governing pseudoephedrine sales. The civil judgment is part of a settlement resolving a federal civil suit against RX Discount of Berea, P.L.L.C., which formerly operated a retail pharmacy in Berea, and Hubbard, who was its owner and manager.
In February, following the trial, Acting U.S. Attorney Carlton S. Shier IV said “this case sends a strong message to medical professionals who dispense controlled substances: failure to exercise reasonable professional judgment, by consistently ignoring suspicious behavior, will not be tolerated.”
U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves sentenced Hubbard, age 41, for 57 counts involving the illegal dispensing of controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose and dispensing pseudoephedrine knowing it would be used to manufacture methamphetamine; maintaining a drug involved premises; and 13 counts involving money laundering.
Read more: http://www.dailyindependent.com/kentucky/news/years-and-million-berea-pharmacist-sentenced-court-imposes-civil-penalty/article_d123b321-b847-5a84-b490-54db7bf40835.html