A psychiatrist Dr. Robert Tinoco Perez who practices at a Santa Ana clinic was arrested on June 30, 2018 by special agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration on federal charges that allege he issued prescriptions for scheduled drugs, such as the opioid oxycodone, without a medical purpose.
Dr. Perez was named in a 14-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury on
June 27. An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime and is not evidence. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
The indictment charges Dr. Perez with selling prescriptions to drug customers, as well as to brokers who allegedly sold the drugs obtained from filling the prescriptions and split the profits with Dr. Perez. Dr. Perez is alleged to have written prescriptions for “patients” he had never met or examined, including an undercover officer, according to the indictment. Dr. Perez and his co-conspirators allegedly created fictitious medical records for drug customers to provide justification for their prescriptions.
The indictment charges Dr. Perez with selling prescriptions to drug customers, as well as to brokers who allegedly sold the drugs obtained from filling the prescriptions and split the profits with Dr. Perez. Dr. Perez is alleged to have written prescriptions for “patients” he had never met or examined, including an undercover officer, according to the indictment. Dr. Perez and his co-conspirators allegedly created fictitious medical records for drug customers to provide justification for their prescriptions.
The drugs alleged to have been prescribed illegally by Dr. Perez included oxycodone
and hydrocodone (both opioid Schedule II medications), amphetamine salts (sold
primarily under the brand name Adderall), and alprazolam (sold primarily under
the brand name Xanax).
Dr. Perez is also charged with possession with intent to distribute nearly one
ounce of methamphetamine. A second defendant charged in the indictment – William Jason Plumley of
Huntington Beach – is alleged to have sold both prescriptions written by Dr. Perez
and the drugs filled from his prescriptions. Mr. Plumley already is in federal
custody on a previous indictment alleging that he sold methamphetamine.
The indictment charging Dr. Perez and Mr. Plumley alleges one count of conspiracy to
distribute controlled substances, 12 counts of illegal distribution of
oxycodone without a legitimate medical purpose, and one count of possession
with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Each of the defendants is charged in
multiple, but not all, illegal distribution counts.
At his arraignment on Friday, Perez pleaded not guilty and was ordered to stand trial on August 21, a date which can be continued by the parties and often is continued. This case is the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement
Administration and a local police department, Costa Mesa Police Department.
Posted by Tracy Green, Esq.
Green and Associates
