Federal prosecutors alleged that a doctor in Michigan received a sentence of more than ten years in federal prison for selling hundreds of thousands of opioid tablets illegally, with a street value of over $6 million.
Lawrence Mark Sherman, 75, was found guilty on December 20 of 20 offenses by a jury; according to federal court records and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Michigan, he was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Judith Levy on Thursday.
Sherman was charged with illegally distributing over 270,000 opioid pills valued at over $6.3 million by the prosecution.
Three highly addictive prescription opioids were included in the release: Oxycodone, Oxymorphone, and Percocet. All three of these medications are highly valuable on the black market.
The allegations were based on Sherman’s part-time employment with Tranquility Wellness Center Inc. from the spring of 2020 until June 2021.
Sherman allegedly prescribed the medicines illegally at the clinic, which was first located in Dearborn, Michigan, and then moved to St. Clair Shores, Michigan, according to the press release.
In June 2021, search and arrest warrants were carried out by federal investigators against Sherman and the center; four other individuals associated with the facility were also prosecuted. According to the announcement, the other offenders entered guilty pleas and received sentences.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office claims that evidence presented during the trial demonstrated Sherman’s collusion with the other defendants to unlawfully approve over 3,000 opioid prescriptions for fictitious “patients” who were referred to the center by “patient recruiter/marketers” and did not actually need the drugs for medical purposes.
The clinic, according to the prosecution, solely took cash and charged “patients” according to the kind, quantity, and dosage of prescription opioids they were given. Additionally, it produced fictitious medical documents for the “patients.”
According to the announcement, the jury was also presented with evidence and testimony indicating that Sherman had prescribed over 270,000 dosage units of Schedule II opioids, with a street value over $6.3 million.
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Prosecutors claimed that although cash was used to pay for the illegal controlled substance prescriptions, pharmacies invoiced health care benefit programs for both controlled and noncontrolled “maintenance” medications.
During the conspiracy, over $500,000. was billed to Medicare and Medicaid for maintenance meds and prescription drugs that weren’t medically necessary.
According to the sentencing statement the prosecution presented with the court, which said that Sherman “did not practice actual medicine at Tranquility,” they estimate Sherman got roughly $168,000 in earnings from his involvement in the conspiracy. He was a prescription drug salesman.”
According to the sentencing memorandum, Sherman served as the medical director of the Macomb County Jail from 2014 to 2017 before starting a part-time job at Tranquility.
It further claims that he and his wife, a retired nurse, have a net worth of more than $1.1 million and possess a house in Michigan, a second home in Florida for $650,000, and a retirement account with about $1 million.
