Jackie Mize Organized Doctor-Shopping Trips to Florida from Claiborne County
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Following a five-day trial in U.S. District Court, Knoxville, Tenn., a jury convicted Jackie, Kelvin and James Mize of Harrogate, Tenn., of conspiring to distribute oxycodone and launder the proceeds of the drug distribution.
Sentencing is set for Jackie Mize at 2:00 p.m., on Nov. 13, 2013. Kelvin and James Mize are set for Nov. 14, 2013, at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., respectively, in U.S. District Court in Knoxville. All three face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The jury also ordered the forfeiture of a parcel of real estate in Harrogate, Tenn., and ordered them to pay a $3,000,000 money judgment to the United States.
Evidence presented at trial demonstrated that Jackie Mize, his two sons, Kelvin and James Mize, and other relatives and friends regularly traveled in groups to Ft. Lauderdale and St. Petersburg, Fla., to obtain prescriptions for oxycodone and other controlled substances. Jackie Mize was the organizer of the trips and paid all of the expenses of his coconspirators. The individuals involved would go to various pain clinics, obtain multiple prescriptions for these controlled substances and have them filled at pharmacies in Florida. Jackie Mize retained half of all of the pills in exchange for sponsoring the doctor-shopping trips. The conspiracy lasted for a year and a half, during which the members of this conspiracy obtained tens of thousands of pills which were sold in and around Claiborne County, Tenn The $3,000,000 money judgment ordered by the jury represents the street value of the pills sold by this organization. Mize and his sons sold pills from a “farm house" owned by Mize in Harrogate on a regular basis, which was ordered forfeited by the jury.
William C. Killian, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee said, “Federal law enforcement agencies will continue to work closely with our local partners to address drug trafficking problems. We were pleased to assist local authorities in Claiborne County to take down a significant oxycodone trafficking ring."
Law enforcement agencies participating in the joint investigation which led to the indictment and subsequent conviction of the Mizes included the Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, and Eighth Judicial Drug Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David C. Jennings and Zachary C. Bolitho represented the United States at trial.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
