On June 19, 2019, a psychiatrist who practiced at a Santa Ana clinic was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison for issuing prescriptions for controlled substances, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, alprazolam and amphetamine salts, to a non-patient in exchange for cash, admitting in his plea agreement that the prescriptions were without a medical purpose and he knew the drugs would
be diverted and sold on the street.
Dr. Robert Tinoco Perez was sentenced by Judge Andrew J. Guilford. Dr. Perez
pleaded guilty on February 25, 2019 to one felony count of conspiracy to distribute
controlled substances.
Dr. Perez admitted that he wrote prescriptions for “patients” he had never met or examined,
including an undercover officer. Dr. Perez admitted that he created fictitious medical records
for drug customers to provide justification for their prescriptions.
Dr. Perez also used false patient names to write the fraudulent prescriptions to
co-defendant William Jason Plumley who sold the
prescribed drugs – as well as other illegal non-prescription drugs such as heroin and methamphetamine – to an undercover law
enforcement officer. Mr. Plumley now is serving a 70-month federal prison sentence
for selling prescriptions written by Dr. Perez as well as the drugs filled from Dr. Perez’s prescriptions. Mr. Plumley pleaded guilty in October 2018 to one count of
conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
Dr. Perez admitted in his plea agreement that between December 2017 and January
2018, he wrote prescriptions for fictitious patients for 240 pills of Adderall,
300 pills of Roxicodone (oxycodone), and 250 pills of Norco (hydrocodone). Dr. Perez sold the prescriptions to Plumley for at least $1,400, according to
Perez’s plea agreement.
This case is part of "Operation
Hypocritical Oath," a series of investigations led by the Drug Enforcement
Administration targeting medical professionals with criminal charges, search
warrants, and administrative actions that have led to the revocation of DEA
licenses.
Posted by Tracy Green, Esq.
Green and Associates, Attorneys at Law
Posted by Tracy Green, Esq.
Green and Associates, Attorneys at Law
