Jacksonville, Florida - United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the unsealing of an indictment charging Dr. Russell Sachs (56, Green Cove Springs) with four counts of dispensing and distributing, and causing to be dispensed and distributed, certain Schedule II and IV controlled substances to patients that were outside the usual course of professional practice and for no legitimate medical purpose. Count one also charges Sachs with dispensing controlled substances that resulted in the death of a patient. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of 20 years, up to life, in federal prison on count one and up to 20 years’ imprisonment on each of the remaining three counts in the indictment.
According to the indictment, Dr. Sachs, a licensed medical doctor in Florida, owned and operated Physician Pain Management in Green Cove Springs. On various dates between 2011 and 2012, he dispensed and distributed, and caused to be dispensed and distributed, various combinations of the following controlled substances, outside the usual course of professional practice and for no legitimate medical purpose: alprazolam (Xanax), carisoprodol (Soma), clonazepam, hydromorphone (Dilaudid), methadone, morphine, and oxycodone.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Diidri W. Robinson.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
