Federal agents, local police arrest Indiana doctors in ‘cash and carry’ opiate ring
JULY 25, 2014,
By Russ McQuaid
CARMEL (July 25, 2014) – Four doctors, a lawyer and six staff members were under arrest Friday morning after federal and local narcotics investigators smashed a Carmel-based opiate prescription ring.
Sources tell FOX59 that Dr. Larry Ley operated the Suboxone “cash and carry” ring from his offices in the arts district in downtown Carmel. Investigators said the raids targeted residences and clinics associated with Drug and Opiate Recovery Network (DORN) and Living Life Clean (LLC).
At dawn, agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Carmel Police Department and the Hamilton-Boone County Drug Task Force raided Ley’s office at 23 E. Main St. as well as four other locations in the state of Indiana. Other doctors arrested included George Agapios, Luella Bangura and Ronald Vierk.
Also under arrest is attorney Andrew Dollard, a former Republican candidate for the Hamilton County Council. Sources say the nine-month-long investigation began with complaints–one of them by the relative of a deceased patient–that Ley and the three other doctors were handing out Suboxone, an alternative to heroin and methodone, to hundreds of patients.
Here’s a look at the charges:
Dr. Larry Ley, 68, Noblesville: nine counts of dealing in a schedule III controlled substance, one count of conspiracy to commit dealing in a schedule III controlled substance and one count of corrupt business influence
Dr. George Agapios, 47, Fishers: three counts of dealing in a schedule III controlled substance, a count of conspiracy to commit dealing in a schedule III controlled substance and a count of corrupt business influence
Dr. Ronald Vierk, 58, Richmond: one count of conspiracy to commit dealing in a schedule III controlled substance and one count of corrupt business influence
Dr. Luella Bangura, 52, Lafayette: three counts of dealing in a schedule III controlled substance, a count of conspiracy to commit dealing in a schedule III controlled substance and a count of corrupt business influence
Derek Tislow, 41, Avon: conspiracy to commit dealing in a schedule III controlled substance, four counts of dealing in a schedule III controlled substance and one count of corrupt business influence
Andrew Dollard, 40, Carmel: one count of conspiracy to commit dealing in a schedule III controlled substance, one count of dealing in a schedule III controlled substance and one count of corrupt business influence
Cassy Linn Bratch, 37, Carmel: four counts of dealing in a schedule III controlled substance, one count of conspiracy to commit dealing in a schedule III controlled substance and one count of corrupt business influence
Yvonne Morgan, 61, Eaton, Ohio: one count of conspiracy to commit dealing in a schedule III controlled substance and one count of corrupt business influence
Jessica Callahan, 37, Muncie: one count of conspiracy to commit dealing in a schedule III controlled substance
Eric Ley, 38, Noblesville: one count of conspiracy to commit dealing in a schedule III controlled substance and one count of corrupt business influence
Felicia Reid, 26, Carmel: one count of conspiracy to commit dealing in a schedule III controlled substance
Patients were able to pay cash for Suboxone prescriptions without an examination or with very limited examination, investigators said. Undercover officers made 27 visits to buy drugs from the offices. In one case, the transaction took only 39 seconds, investigators said. Other transactions lasted little more than a minute.
Undercover officers made more than two dozen trips to the various pain medication sites and caught the suspects doling out the medications in both photographs and on video. The ring operated for three years.
Ley was characterized as the “ringleader” of the operation. According to the probable cause affidavit, Ley required prospective DORN patients to see him at his Carmel office for $300. They were given the option of a Suboxone prescription or a shot. In March and April 2014, seven different undercover investigators went to Ley’s office. Even though they weren’t interviewed or examined, they received Suboxone prescriptions after sitting through a seminar with Ley and paying $300 in cash.
Ley also operated a website titled “DoorNetwork.com” to find potential patients, sources said. More than 99 percent of controlled substance prescriptions written by Ley were for Suboxone.
The raids spanned offices and residences from Carmel to Noblesville, Muncie, Centerville and Kokomo. Investigators also searched a safe deposit box at a Chase Bank location in Carmel.
Investigators said it’s possible that more arrests could come.
http://fox59.com/2014/07/25/multi-c...rs-arrests-cracks-opiate-drugs-for-cash-ring/
JULY 25, 2014,
By Russ McQuaid
CARMEL (July 25, 2014) – Four doctors, a lawyer and six staff members were under arrest Friday morning after federal and local narcotics investigators smashed a Carmel-based opiate prescription ring.
Sources tell FOX59 that Dr. Larry Ley operated the Suboxone “cash and carry” ring from his offices in the arts district in downtown Carmel. Investigators said the raids targeted residences and clinics associated with Drug and Opiate Recovery Network (DORN) and Living Life Clean (LLC).
At dawn, agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Carmel Police Department and the Hamilton-Boone County Drug Task Force raided Ley’s office at 23 E. Main St. as well as four other locations in the state of Indiana. Other doctors arrested included George Agapios, Luella Bangura and Ronald Vierk.
Also under arrest is attorney Andrew Dollard, a former Republican candidate for the Hamilton County Council. Sources say the nine-month-long investigation began with complaints–one of them by the relative of a deceased patient–that Ley and the three other doctors were handing out Suboxone, an alternative to heroin and methodone, to hundreds of patients.
Here’s a look at the charges:
Dr. Larry Ley, 68, Noblesville: nine counts of dealing in a schedule III controlled substance, one count of conspiracy to commit dealing in a schedule III controlled substance and one count of corrupt business influence
Dr. George Agapios, 47, Fishers: three counts of dealing in a schedule III controlled substance, a count of conspiracy to commit dealing in a schedule III controlled substance and a count of corrupt business influence
Dr. Ronald Vierk, 58, Richmond: one count of conspiracy to commit dealing in a schedule III controlled substance and one count of corrupt business influence
Dr. Luella Bangura, 52, Lafayette: three counts of dealing in a schedule III controlled substance, a count of conspiracy to commit dealing in a schedule III controlled substance and a count of corrupt business influence
Derek Tislow, 41, Avon: conspiracy to commit dealing in a schedule III controlled substance, four counts of dealing in a schedule III controlled substance and one count of corrupt business influence
Andrew Dollard, 40, Carmel: one count of conspiracy to commit dealing in a schedule III controlled substance, one count of dealing in a schedule III controlled substance and one count of corrupt business influence
Cassy Linn Bratch, 37, Carmel: four counts of dealing in a schedule III controlled substance, one count of conspiracy to commit dealing in a schedule III controlled substance and one count of corrupt business influence
Yvonne Morgan, 61, Eaton, Ohio: one count of conspiracy to commit dealing in a schedule III controlled substance and one count of corrupt business influence
Jessica Callahan, 37, Muncie: one count of conspiracy to commit dealing in a schedule III controlled substance
Eric Ley, 38, Noblesville: one count of conspiracy to commit dealing in a schedule III controlled substance and one count of corrupt business influence
Felicia Reid, 26, Carmel: one count of conspiracy to commit dealing in a schedule III controlled substance
Patients were able to pay cash for Suboxone prescriptions without an examination or with very limited examination, investigators said. Undercover officers made 27 visits to buy drugs from the offices. In one case, the transaction took only 39 seconds, investigators said. Other transactions lasted little more than a minute.
Undercover officers made more than two dozen trips to the various pain medication sites and caught the suspects doling out the medications in both photographs and on video. The ring operated for three years.
Ley was characterized as the “ringleader” of the operation. According to the probable cause affidavit, Ley required prospective DORN patients to see him at his Carmel office for $300. They were given the option of a Suboxone prescription or a shot. In March and April 2014, seven different undercover investigators went to Ley’s office. Even though they weren’t interviewed or examined, they received Suboxone prescriptions after sitting through a seminar with Ley and paying $300 in cash.
Ley also operated a website titled “DoorNetwork.com” to find potential patients, sources said. More than 99 percent of controlled substance prescriptions written by Ley were for Suboxone.
The raids spanned offices and residences from Carmel to Noblesville, Muncie, Centerville and Kokomo. Investigators also searched a safe deposit box at a Chase Bank location in Carmel.
Investigators said it’s possible that more arrests could come.
http://fox59.com/2014/07/25/multi-c...rs-arrests-cracks-opiate-drugs-for-cash-ring/
