A Conway physician who pleaded guilty in April to illegally distributing hydrocodone pills without a prescription at a Little Rock "pill mill" has died.
Jerry Scott Reifeiss, 61, died June 24 in Faulkner County, according to court documents filed last weekend and on Monday.
Jeff Rosenzweig of Little Rock, who was representing Reifeiss, said Monday that he doesn't know what caused Reifeiss' death, but that "he was extremely frail and had a bunch of medical conditions" for which he was taking various medicines.
Reifeiss pleaded guilty April 20 to conspiring to distribute hydrocodone and other controlled substances without a prescription between March 11, 2015, the day he started working at KJ Medical Clinic on Hermitage Road, until May 20, 2015, the day federal agents raided what they called an illegal pill mill.
Rosenzweig said Monday that he and federal prosecutors had worked out an agreement to allow Reifeiss to receive a probationary sentence, because of his health.
Reifeiss didn't have a scheduled sentencing date, but a trial for several of his co-defendants is scheduled for Aug. 1 in U.S. District Judge James Moody's Little Rock courtroom.
Among them are Felicie Wyatt of Memphis, who is also a physician; Aaron Paul Borengasser, a physician assistant; and Kristin Raines, an advanced practice nurse. Another physician, Shawn Michael Brooks of Little Rock, pleaded guilty in May to a misprision charge, admitting he knew about and concealed from authorities the illegal distribution of controlled substances at the clinic.
Metro on 07/17/2016