Atlanta Pill Mill Case Convicts Pharmacists

ATLANTA, GA — The husband and wife owners of Medicine Center Pharmacy in Atlanta have been convicted of a drug trafficking conspiracy, including: a money laundering conspiracy and three counts of illegally dispensing controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of professional practice, the Department of Justice announced Thursday.

According to U.S. Attorney John A. Horn, the owners Rosemary Ofume and Donatus Iriele allegedly illegally dispensed controlled narcotics to customers of the "pill mill" pain clinic across the street from their business on Jonesboro Road SE.

Ofume lied to pharmaceutical distributors in order to get large amounts of Oxycodone and other prescription pain pills that were then dispensed to customers having "obvious signs of addiction or drug diversion," Horn said.

In 2009, Medicine Center Pharmacy purchased 11 times more Oxycodone than the average pharmacy in Georgia.

DEA and IRS agents began to investigate the AMARC pain clinic and the nearby Medicine Center Pharmacy in May 2009, after they received information that the clinic and pharmacy were illegitimately prescribing and dispensing pain pills to "drug addicts and drug dealers," Horn said.

Investigation revealed a Georgia man named Godfrey Ilonzo financed and operated at least eight clinics in the metro Atlanta area under the "AMARC" name, including the Lakewood pain clinic and the one in Tyrone, Georgia. Bona Ilonzo, Godfrey Ilonzo's wife, worked as the office manager at the Lakewood AMARC pain clinic.

Ofume and Iriele operated the Medicine Center Pharmacy across the street from one of the pain clinics, Horn said. The couple worked together with the Ilonzos and Doctors Nevorn Askari and William Richardson to facilitate the dispensing of Oxycodone pills and other opiates to addicts and distributors.

When customers received prescriptions from Askari and Richardson for "medically inappropriate and potentially lethal combinations of opiates and other controlled substances," they were told by clinic staff to fill their prescriptions across the street at "Rosemary's pharmacy," Horn said.

Customers paid cash to receive the prescriptions for Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, Xanax and Soma (Carisoprodol), and then would pay large amounts of money for the medicine from Medicine Center Pharmacy.

Many customers traveled to the AMARC clinics and Ofume and Iriele's pharmacy from counties throughout Georgia and from other states, including Alabama and Ohio.

Ofume and Iriele generated more than $5.1 million from unlawful prescriptions issued by doctors affiliated with the AMARC clinics. Iriele used the pharmacy proceeds to buy three luxury vehicles for him and his wife's personal use.

The couple also laundered pharmacy proceeds by purchasing vehicles in the U.S. for individuals in Nigeria, while those customers then deposited local Nigerian currency into Iriele's own Nigerian bank account.

Employees at the AMARC clinics and the Medicine Center Pharmacy would also receive discounts and special treatment, including free office visits and reduced prices for pills dispensed at the pharmacy, Horn said.

Based on the convictions, Ofume and Iriele are ordered to forfeit $16,767 in cash seized from the pharmacy; $133,892.74 in funds seized from the pharmacy’s bank account, a 2009 BMW X5, a 2008 Mercedes Benz ML550, a 2007 BMW X5, and Rosemary Ofume’s Georgia Pharmacist license.

In addition, the government also intends to seek money judgments equal to the amount of proceeds defendants obtained from their illegal drug trafficking and the amount of money laundered.

Iriele was also convicted individually of five counts of concealment money laundering and laundering more than $10,000 of criminally derived property.

The following people were also arrested in connection with the drug trafficking conspiracy:

• Godfrey Ilonzo, 66, of Alpharetta pleaded guilty on February 16, 2017, to drug trafficking conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy;
• Bona Ilonzo, 54, of Alpharetta pleaded guilty on February 16, 2017, to a drug trafficking conspiracy;
• Dr. Nevorn Askari, 61, of Monroe, Georgia, pleaded guilty on February 16, 2017, to a drug trafficking conspiracy;
• Dr. William Richardson, 63, of Atlanta, Georgia, pleaded guilty on February 1, 2017, to a drug trafficking conspiracy.

The sentencing of Godrey and Bona Ilonzo, Dr. Askari, and Dr. Richardson are scheduled to take place throughout the day on May 16, 2017, before U.S. District Court Judge Steve C. Jones. The sentencing of Ofume and Iriele are scheduled for June 13, 2017, at 10:00 a.m., before U.S. District Court Judge Jones.

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