Surveillance photos of crowd outside Astramed Physicians,
PC, located at 1228 Southern Boulevard in the Bronx on July 9 where where a
physician has been charged in massive oxycodone distribution scheme.
Two dozen members of a violent ring that used bogus clinics
to put half a billion dollars worth of the powerful pain pill Oxycodone on the
streets have been busted in a sting operation, federal prosecutors said
Wednesday.
Court papers described a lucrative operation in which the
Astramed chain of pain management centers worked with iron-fisted crew chiefs
to fill more than 30,000 prescriptions for the potent opiates since 2011.
The clinics run by Dr. Kevin Lowe allegedly pocketed $300
for each doctor visit, which was usually just a minute or two long and involved
no physical exam.
The "patients" were men and women hired by the
crews to obtain the prescriptions for phony ailments. The pills were turned
over to the ringleaders for resale on the street, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet
Bharara charged.
A single prescription could be worth $6,000 in New York, and
up to $18,000 out of state. Investigators said 5.5 million tablets were
ordered, with a street value of $550 million.
With so much money at stake, the crews used intimidation and
violence to keep the operation going and stationed "bouncers" —
including one nicknamed "Pork Chop" — outside the clinics, the feds
alleged.
In September, one clinic worker was thrown through a wall.
The next month, a pregnant office manager who raised the price for new patients
was assaulted, court papers say. One doctor who called police about threats
from a patient had their car defaced and their tires slashed.
Prosecutors say Lowe, who collected $12 million in fees, was
"complicit in much of the violence." His lawyer did not immediately
return a call.
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