Doctor Pleads Guilty In Federal Opioid Distribution Case

MILTON, GA — A former county medical examiner and forensic pathologist has entered a guilty plea in federal court to conspiracy to illegally distribute painkiller in exchange for sexual favors, the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Northern District of Georgia said.

Dr. Joseph Lawson Burton of Milton pleaded guilty on Tuesday, May 22 to the offense of conspiracy to unlawfully distribute and dispense controlled substances outside of the normal course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose.

“This defendant traded prescriptions for sex and is responsible for distributing thousands of doses of dangerous opioids within our community,” said U.S. Attorney BJay Pak. “We are grateful for the dedicated work of our local and federal law enforcement partners who are equally committed to the arrest and prosecution of those who seek to profit from unlawfully distributing these drugs.”

Dr. Burton and seven others were indicted on federal charges in February in connection to the case, which was presented as a part of Operation SCOPE (Strategically Combatting Opioids through Prosecution and Enforcement), which targets individuals who illegally prescribe opioids and traffickers who distribute these drugs.

Five of those charged in the federal indictment have also entered guilty pleas. Jennifer Hunter, 29, of Acworth, Michelle Danner, 45, of Acworth, 26-year-old Tiffany Willis of Cartersville and Rodney Kennedy, 63, of Cartersville all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to unlawfully distribute and dispense controlled substances. Hunter and Willis entered their pleas on May 2 while Danner was convicted upon her guilty plea on May 15. Kennedy's plea was entered into the court on May 10. Jerry Stephens, 30, also of Cartersville, pleaded guilty on May 9 to one count each of conspiracy to unlawfully distribute and dispense controlled substances and distribution and dispensation of a controlled substance on May 8, 2018.

Dr. Burton and his co-defendants' plea come a week after a grand jury indicted them on charges related to their operation in Cherokee County. Dr. Burton and several others are accused of running an operation to fraudulently obtain prescription painkillers from local pharmacies.

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According to the indictment and other information provided by federal prosecutors, Dr. Burton is a licensed physician who operated as a consulting pathologist to determine the medical causes of diseases and death. Burton's website notes that he served as the chief medical examiner in DeKalb County and senior consulting pathologist for Cobb, Gwinnett and Paulding counties before he opening his Milton-based firm in 2000.

The government began investigating the doctor after agents with the Georgia Drug & Narcotics Agency and the Georgia Composite Medical Board visited him in early 2017 and discovered that he was prescribing painkillers to a large number of patients without operating a medical clinic or regularly seeing patients.

For about two years beginning in July 2015, Dr. Burton issued more than 1,100 opioid prescriptions, which amounted to over 108,000 individual doses, including over 66,000 30mg oxycodone pills, Pak's office states. Dr. Burton prescribed opioids such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, and methadone, "irrespective of any legitimate medical purpose and outside the normal course of professional practice, in exchange for sexual favors and romantic affection."

The doctor also prescribed opioids to people without conducting a thorough examination, and on occasion, without meeting them at all. Co-defendants Willis, Hunter and Rhonda Haugland each engaged in a sexual relationship with Dr. Burton in exchange for prescriptions in their names, as well as the names of others, federal prosecutors note.

Hunter, Haugland, and Willis would fill their prescriptions and sell the pills, and then obtain more prescriptions from Burton for other people, who paid them for getting the prescriptions. Dr. Burton also supplied the co-defendants with blank prescriptions and instructed them on how to fill them out.

Burton will be sentenced on Aug. 29 while Hunter and Willis will learn their fate on Aug. 7. Danner, Stephens and Kennedy will be sentenced on Aug. 9.

The case is under investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. The feds were aided in their efforts by the Acworth Police Department, Barrow County Sheriff’s Office, Bartow County District Attorney’s Office, Bartow County Sheriff’s Office, Cartersville Police Department, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, Cherokee County District Attorney’s Office, Clayton County Police Department, Cobb County Sheriff’s Office, Cobb County District Attorney’s Office, Cobb County Police Department, Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, Floyd County District Attorney’s Office, Floyd County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia Department of Community Supervision, Georgia Composite Medical Board, Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency, Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office, Hall County Sheriff’s Office, Jonesboro Police Department, Oakwood Police Department, Paulding County Sheriff’s Office and Rome Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John T. DeGenova and C. Brock Brockington, Deputy Chief of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Section are prosecuting the case.

Photo: Dr. Joseph Lawson Burton. Credit: Cherokee Sheriff's Office