A Texas pharmacy owner and three pharmacists were sentenced in Houston for their roles in unlawfully distributing more than 500,000 opioid pills and other prescription drugs. The scheme involved dispensing drugs to individuals who posed as patients on behalf of black market drug traffickers.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi stated, “While I served as the Attorney General of Florida, addressing the opioid crisis was one of my top priorities and remains a top priority at the Department of Justice today. The opioid crisis has taken hundreds of thousands of lives and destroyed countless American families. Our enforcement efforts aren’t limited to cartels and gangs: anyone in the medical profession who abuses their position of trust to deal deadly drugs will face severe consequences.”
Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti commented, “Billings and his co-conspirators brazenly operated a pill mill for years, selling dangerous narcotics to dealers through straw patients and fueling the opioid epidemic. The defendants ignored their obligations as pharmacists to care for their patients and instead profited from the illicit sale of highly addictive drugs. The Criminal Division is dedicated to investigating and prosecuting the gatekeepers in the health care industry who abuse positions of trust for personal gain.”
DEA Administrator Terrance Cole added, “Pharmacies exist to heal the sick, not to fuel addiction and line the pockets of drug traffickers. These defendants betrayed their communities by turning a pharmacy into a pill mill, flooding our streets with over half a million opioid pills, and leaving a trail of addiction, abuse, and tragedy. DEA remains steadfast in its commitment to bring to justice those responsible for the country’s opioid crisis.”
Arthur Billings, 61, owner and pharmacist at Health Fit Pharmacy in Missouri City, was sentenced to 12 years in prison with an order to forfeit $2.6 million. Billings had pleaded guilty in August 2022 to conspiring over four years to unlawfully distribute hydrocodone and oxycodone and making false statements on a disability benefits application. According to court documents, Health Fit Pharmacy operated as a cash-only establishment where controlled substances were dispensed in exchange for hundreds of dollars per prescription. Drug traffickers sent individuals posing as patients with fraudulent prescriptions—often using stolen physician identities—to obtain these medications before reselling them on the black market. Despite warnings from state authorities such as the Texas State Board of Pharmacy, Texas Department of Public Safety, and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), illegal activities continued at Health Fit.
Three pharmacists who worked at Health Fit were also sentenced:
- Deanna Winfield-Gates received six years in prison with a $60,000 forfeiture order after being convicted by jury in September 2023.
- Jeremy Branch was sentenced to 22 months imprisonment with nearly $69,000 ordered forfeited; he pleaded guilty in August 2022.
- Frank Cooper received a sentence of 20 months imprisonment with a $5,000 forfeiture order following his guilty plea.
The investigation was conducted by the DEA.
Trial Attorney Drew Pennebaker from the Justice Department’s Fraud Section prosecuted this case with support from Paralegal Specialist Meghan Malinowski.
The Fraud Section leads efforts against health care fraud through its Strike Force Program which operates across several federal districts nationwide; since its inception it has charged thousands accused collectively billing billions from public health programs or private insurers.
For more information about ongoing initiatives against health care fraud see www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.
