A Little Rock doctor was arrested Monday after a six-month investigation uncovered nearly 200 suspicious oxycodone prescriptions, Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley said.
Dr. Richard Johns, an internist who practices in Little Rock, was held in the Lonoke County jail without bail and is scheduled to go before a judge this morning.
Johns is charged with 187 counts of fraudulent practice, a Class C felony that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each count.
"That is approximately 16,830 oxycodone pills ... since July of 2014," Staley said. He added that Lonoke County was just one of "several places" the prescriptions were being filled.
"Any time you see this situation, the doctor is giving them out to sell. He's just like a drug dealer," Staley said. "He gives them access to the dope, and it goes down from there."
John's defense attorney, Paul James of Little Rock, said Monday's charges came as a surprise. James said that they have been in dialogue with the U.S. attorney's office in Little Rock and that Johns had agreed to surrender voluntarily if that agency chose to press charges.
"We were not aware of the county investigation," James said, adding that he could not comment on the Lonoke County case at this time.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Pat Harris said Monday that he could not confirm whether there is an ongoing federal investigation concerning Johns.
Staley said the investigation -- a joint effort with the Central Arkansas Drug Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and the Arkansas State Police -- began in November, when Lonoke County sheriff's detective Clint Eifling and Sgt. Branden Hampton took a closer look at a drug-overdose death outside of Cabot.
Staley and Lonoke County Prosecuting Attorney Chuck Graham declined Monday to release the name of the overdose victim.
The sheriff's team learned early in the investigation that the death was suspected to be connected to a prescription obtained from Johns, Staley said.
"The allegation is that Dr. Johns was selling these prescriptions and had a middle man go out to get them filled," Graham said.
Staley said he does not believe the pharmacies that filled the prescriptions will face any action.
"The pharmacies just went off what the doctor said. It's the people who are obtaining them illegally that will be charged," Staley said. "There will be more arrests. This is just the tip of the iceberg."
Staley said he did not believe Johns would be held criminally responsible for the overdose death, however.
"I don't know. If I handed you a pill, you don't have to take it," he said.
Graham said he is meeting with the investigative team to review the case further and to determine the amount of bail that Graham will request for Johns.
Kevin O'Dwyer, the attorney for the state Medical Board, said the organization on Monday opened an official investigation on Johns.
"I talked to our chairman, and we are reviewing the files," O'Dwyer said. "We will likely discuss the charges at the June board meeting. It depends. We don't know what's going to be in the files."
Anyone with information on this case or Johns is asked to call the Lonoke County sheriff's office at (501) 676-3001 or the DEA's Office of Diversion Control at (501) 217-6500.
State Desk on 05/19/2015