A former clinic owner in Georgia has been sentenced to five years in prison after admitting she laundered money for a notorious “pill mill” doctor who illegally dispensed drugs.
According to a May 12 Department of Justice news release, Jamesetta Whipple-Duncan, 59, of Savannah, Ga., pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering. U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood ordered Whipple-Duncan to pay $86,074 in restitution, with three years of supervised release after completing her prison sentence. There is no parole in the federal system.
“This sentence holds accountable yet another instrumental figure who helped pour gasoline on the raging fire of the opioid addiction crisis,” David H. Estes, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, said in the release. “Along with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to bring to justice those who exacerbate drug addictions in our community, whether they stand or street corners or dress in lab coats.”
According to court documents, Whipple owned and operated Georgia Laboratory Diagnostics LLC, in Garden City, Ga., which employed Dr. Frank Bynes Jr., who was sentenced in February 2020 to 240 months in jail and ordered to pay $615,145 in restitution to Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare after he was found guilty on 13 counts of unlawful dispensation of controlled substances and three counts of healtcare fraud, the release reported.
Whipple-Duncan reportedly hired Bynes and profited by giving him a base of operations to distribute illegal drugs, according to the release. Whipple-Duncan allegedly controlled the finances of the clinic and used the profits to make purchases including a Mercedes-Benz sedan, a Hummer H2, a Can-Am Spyder and a Polaris Slingshot.
“Aiding in the illegal prescription of large amounts of drugs both undermines critical measures to address the opioid crisis and also puts patients at serious risk of overdose and other forms of physical harm,” said Tamala Miles, special agent in charge at the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, according to the release. “HHS-OIG will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold accountable bad actors who exploit opioid addiction for personal financial gain.”
The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the HHS-OIG, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and an investigator with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, according to the release.
“The opioid addiction crisis in this country deeply affects the military members as well as their families. The selfishness of Whipple-Duncan represents another reprehensible side of this crisis where greed outweighs the humanity towards those struggling with addiction,” said Special Agent in Charge Cynthia A. Bruce of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General. “DCIS will continue to work closely with our investigative partners to hold those responsible who advance the opioid crisis for their own personal gain.”
