N E W S R E L E A S E
ELIOT SPITZER
NEW YORK STATE ATTORNEY G E N E R A L
M E D I C AI D F R A U D C O N T R O L U NI T
CONTACT: KEVIN RYAN FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
212-417-5256 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2003
34 INDICTED IN MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR
BLACK MARKET PRESCRIPTION DRUG TRAFFICKING SCAM
Vans Filled with Medicaid Recipients Transported Upstate To Buy Narcotic Prescriptions
Attorney General Eliot Spitzer today announced that a former Central Park West psychiatrist and
thirty-three other individuals have been charged with participating in a major prescription drug ring that
extended from Manhattan to upstate New York and cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in
medically unnecessary Medicaid billings. The ring was responsible for flooding the streets with huge
quantities of highly addictive and potentially dangerous painkillers worth millions of dollars on the black
market.
As part of an ongoing investigation being conducted jointly by local, state, and federal law
enforcement agencies, David Roemer, M.D., has been indicted for unlawfully selling thousands of
prescriptions for depressants and narcotic drugs to Medicaid recipients who were transported from New
York City to his Ulster County practice. It is alleged that the recipients paid cash for the prescriptions,
which they did not need and, in some cases, it is further alleged that Roemer wrote prescriptions for
individuals he did not meet. Prosecutors allege that Roemer sold prescriptions for a variety of drugs that
are widely traded in the prescription drug black market, including the anti-anxiety drug Xanax, and the
addictive narcotic painkillers Percocet and OxyContin, a synthetic form of morphine.
According to the indictment unsealed today in Bronx Supreme Court, between May 2002 and
November 2002, defendants Lois Johnson, William Bird, Tina Sanders and Doryel West daily recruited
Medicaid recipients from New York’s streets and from city-based substance abuse programs and then drove
those recruits in leased 18-passenger vans to Roemer’s upstate office. During the drive, the recruits were
given cash to pay Roemer for the prescriptions and instructed on what drugs to order from Roemer. Once
the recruits purchased the prescriptions from Roemer, they were transported back to pharmacies in the
Bronx and Manhattan, where they used their Medicaid cards to obtain the prescribed medications. The
drugs were then delivered by the recruits to other members of the conspiracy for distribution on the black
market. The recruits were each paid $100 for their participation in the scheme.
The 16-month investigation was jointly conducted by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud
Control Unit, the New York City Police Department’s Narcotics Division; the City’s Human Resources
Administration’s Bureau of Fraud Investigations; the New York State Police; the state Department of
Health’s Bureau of Controlled Substances; and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office
of the Inspector General, Office of Investigations.
Attorney General Spitzer said, “The black marketing of legitimate prescription drugs is a serious
problem that annually costs taxpayers millions of dollars in unnecessary medical billings. Here it is alleged
that Medicaid was victimized by this drug ring and, more importantly, numerous individuals were exposed
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to these dangerous drugs because a physician betrayed his profession and violated our trust. My office is
committed to rooting out such medical corruption by health care professionals and to fighting prescription
fraud.”
“Dr. Roemer and the other defendants are charged with defrauding the Medicaid program and
undermining public health by scheming to peddle prescriptions for dangerously addictive drugs and the
drugs themselves on the street,” said Acting Principal Deputy Inspector General Dara Corrigan, of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General. “The HHS OIG will continue
to investigate such individuals, who steal taxpayer funds meant to pay for legitimate health care expenses.”
HRA Commissioner Verna Eggleston said, “Today's arrests are yet another example of the
outstanding collaborative work between HRA's Bureau of Fraud Investigations and local, state and federal
law enforcement agencies. I heartily applaud today's announcement. The city will not tolerate any attempt
to defraud the Medicaid program and the public trust --- regardless of whether the perpetrators are providers
or consumers.”
Roemer and the other thirty-three defendants were variously charged in a 249-count indictment with
the crimes of:
< Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree and Criminal Possession of a Controlled
Substance in the First Degree, Class A-I felonies punishable by a minimum of fifteen years and a
maximum of life in prison;
< Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree and Criminal Possession of a
Controlled Substance in the Second Degree, Class A-II felonies punishable by a minimum of three
years and a maximum of life in prison.
< Conspiracy in the Second Degree, a Class B felony punishable by up to25 years in prison;
< Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, Criminal Sale of a Prescription for a Controlled Substance, and
Criminal Facilitation in the Second Degree, Class C felonies punishable by up to fifteen years in
prison; and.
< Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Fifth Degree and Criminal Sale of a Controlled
Substance in the Fifth Degree, Class D felonies punishable by up to seven years in prison.
Twenty of the defendants have been arrested today and will be arraigned in Bronx Supreme Court.
The remaining defendants are being sought.
The cases are being prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorneys General Robert J. Goldstein and
Emily J. Rowe, who are assigned to the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit’s New York City Regional Office.
The charges against the defendants are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed
innocent until and unless proven guilty.
See Attached List of Defendants
Page 3
LIST OF DEFENDANTS
DAVID ROEMER, M.D., 44, maintained a medical practice at his residence, 1416 Route 213 in High Falls, New
York. He previously practiced at 25 Central Park West in Manhattan. Roemer is presently not licensed to practice
medicine in New York State, having surrendered his medical license during the course of the investigation.
“RECRUITERS”
LOIS JOHNSON, 49, lives at 1182 Washington Avenue in the Bronx.
TINA SANDERS (a/k/a Tina Chambers a/k/a “T”), 30, lives at 1050 Carroll Place in the Bronx.
DORYEL WEST (a/k/a Tony West), 55, lives at 1515 Grand Concourse in the Bronx.
WILLIAM BIRD, 42, lives at 1075 Webster Avenue in the Bronx.
“RECRUITS”
EARL BROWN, 55, lives at 1075 Webster Avenue in the Bronx.
LOUIS BROWN, 54, lives at 1385 Fulton Avenue in the Bronx.
PHILLIS BROWN, 55, lives at 1075 Webster Avenue in the Bronx.
THOMAS CHERRY, 47, lives at 1139 Clay Avenue in the Bronx.
RODERICK CLAIRE, 49, lives at 1042 Clay Avenue in the Bronx.
ALVIN DERRICK, 48, lives at 722 Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn.
KENYA DIABATE, 37, lives at 6 East 132nd Street in Manhattan.
ROBERT EWELL, 54, lives at 228 West 114th Street in Manhattan.
XYLINA FIGUEROA, 20, lives at 418 West 17th Street in Manhattan.
DAVID FOWLER, 50, lives at 237 West 122nd Street in Manhattan.
ARIEL GALLETI, 57, lives at 1075 Webster Avenue in the Bronx.
DAVID GAMMAGE, 42, lives at 2027 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan.
ROSINA GRAHAM, 39, lives at 20 Richmond Plaza in the Bronx.
KEITH HARTZOG, 22, lives 1268 Stratford Avenue in the Bronx.
ANITA HUGHES, 47, lives at 1075 Webster Avenue in the Bronx.
SANDRA KELLER, 49, lives at 180 Brook Avenue in the Bronx.
CHARLES MACKEY, 42, lives at 1361 Webster Avenue in the Bronx.
LAWRENCE McCLAM, 49, lives at 305 East 153rd Street in the Bronx.
WAYNE McCLANAHAN, 50, lives at 22 East 119th Street in Manhattan.
JOYCE McKELLY, 44, lives at 1563 Metropolitan Avenue in the Bronx.
ORION MOSS, 47, lives at 1011 Nelson Avenue in the Bronx.
NADIR MUJAHID, 49, lives at 1043 Clay Avenue in the Bronx.
FREMIOR PABON, 51, lives at 1075 Webster Avenue in the Bronx.
FERNANDO PERDOMO, 41, lives at 963 Prospect Avenue in the Bronx.
JOSEPH QUINONES, 53, lives at 1075 Webster Avenue in the Bronx.
CLYDE REEDER, 56, lives at 1075 Webster Avenue in the Bronx.
PATRICIA RISIEN, 54, lives at 1134 West Farms Road in the Bronx.
GLENN TANNEHILL, 49, lives at 1075 Webster Avenue in the Bronx.
CURTIS WILLIAMS, 54, lives at 1075 Webster Avenue in the Bronx.
NOTE:
Press Release and Indictment are posted on the Attorney General’s website:
www.oag.state.ny.us