LONOKE — A Little Rock doctor facing more than 180 charges tied to purported prescription drug fraud made an initial appearance in court Tuesday a day after his arrest.
Lonoke County Circuit Judge Ashley Parker set Dr. Richard Johns' bail at $50,000 after Johns' defense attorneys and prosecutors said they had agreed upon that amount. Sheriff John Staley said Johns posted bond and was released about 12:30 p.m.
The judge had earlier ordered Johns not to have any contact with witnesses in the case and not to possess or use alcohol or controlled substances if he is released. He was also ordered to surrender his passport, though his attorneys said he does not have one.
Johns is also prohibited from issuing any prescriptions.
"If he does that, the state will file an immediate petition to revoke his bond," Lonoke County Prosecuting Attorney Chuck Graham told the court.
Johns — dressed in a magenta jail jump-suit and with his hands shackled to a chain around his waist — spoke only briefly during the hearing at a courtroom attached to the Lonoke County sheriff's office and jail. Replying to questions from Parker, Johns said he had gone over the case with his attorneys, that he understood the conditions of his release and that he knows a violation could result in being jailed pending trial.
Johns was arrested Monday as part of an investigation that authorities said started when a man in Lonoke County died from a drug overdose. Staley said in a news release that investigators traced the drugs in question to a prescription obtained from Johns and that police believe he led a "suspected criminal enterprise" that distributed 187 fraudulent oxycodone prescriptions in Lonoke County.
Staley added that investigators were still working and more arrests were likely.
John's defense attorney, Paul James, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the arrest on state charges was a surprise but that Johns had been in contact with the U.S. attorney's office and would surrender voluntarily if he was charged federally.
Johns is next due in court in Lonoke County on July 20.