Thaindian News

NEW BERN, NORTH CAROLINA (BNO NEWS) – A North Carolina doctor was sentenced to 20 years in prison followed by three years supervised release for distributing large amounts of Oxycontin, prosecutors announced on Monday.

Perry Reese III, 51, was convicted for two counts of distribution of a controlled substance and one count of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act. Reese is the sole owner and physician of Roseboro Urgent Care in Sampson County, North Carolina.

Reese issues began in 2002, when a patient approached the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) about several prescriptions of Oxycontin and other drugs he had purchased from Reese. The patient was consuming around 30-35 Oxycontin pills a day. SBI determined that these were illegal and life threatening practices.

As the investigation developed, SBI agents made 4 purchases from Reese. They obtained 45 Oxycontin pills and drug prescriptions without a single medical examination. During trial, evidence showed that Reese didn’t even ask questions to his patients regarding their health. In order to avoid detection, he wrote the prescriptions in the names of relatives and friends.

Some of the patients become addicted to the medicine. Patients paid a fee according to the number of pills in the prescription. Reese even made transactions in the street. Reese illegally sold 174.165 grams of Oxycontin, the legal equivalent of 1,166 kilograms of marijuana.