Doctor Indicted On Racketeering Charges In Cherokee County

CANTON, GA — A former medical examiner and several other individuals have been indicted on charges related to an alleged opioid distribution ring that's caught the eye of federal prosecutors.

A Cherokee County grand jury last week indicted Dr. Joseph Lawson Burton, Ryan Marion Cannon, Sandy Gail Cargile, Nancy Carol Fossett, Joyce Justene Jenkins, Ashley Nicole Powell, Roy Christopher Cargile, Tiffany Michelle Willis, Jennifer Elaine Hunter, Michelle Denise Danner and Justin Dwayne Cargile on two counts each of racketeering, fraud in obtaining controlled substances and possession of controlled substances.

The grand jury also indicted Harold Hulon Saye, Jr. on four counts each of fraud in obtaining controlled substances and possession of controlled substances; and Jerry Allen Morgan on two counts each of fraud in obtaining controlled substances and three counts of possession of a schedule II controlled substance. Morgan, Ryan Cannon, Justin Cargile, Michelle Danner, Nancy Fossett and Jennifer Hunter were also charged with one count each of recidivist for their previous criminal convictions.

Burton, Willis, Rhonda Haugland, Danner, Cheryl Truelove of Hiram, Jerry Stephens, Jr. and Rodney Kennedy were previously indicted on federal charges of illegally distributing painkillers and other narcotics in an operation that doled out tens of thousands of pills to users.

The local investigation, spearheaded by the Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad, was done with the help of other agencies around metro Atlanta, Georgia Drug and Narcotics Agency and the Drug Enforcement Administration. According to the local indictment, Burton and his co-defendants carried out their scheme between April 2015 and August 2017. Burton would write prescriptions for his co-conspirators to get filled at pharmacies around North Georgia, including businesses in Cherokee County.

Specifically, Burton wrote the following prescriptions for his co-defendants to obtain at pharmacies in Cherokee:

• Roy Cargile: 90 oxycodone pills on Aug. 1, 2017; and 60 alprazolam pills on Aug. 15, 2017.
• Justin Cargile: 90 oxycodone pills on May 30, 2017, and June 26, 2017; 90 oxycodone-acetaminophen pills on Aug. 1, 2017; and 60 alprazolam pills on Aug. 5, 2017.
• Ashley Powell: 90 oxycodone pills on May 22, 2017.
• Michelle Danner: 90 oxycodone pills on June 30, 2017, and 60 oxycodone pills on July 13, 2017.
• Tiffany Willis: 60 alprazolam pills on Dec. 28, 2016; promethazine with codeine on Jan. 2, 2017; 120 oxycodone pills on Feb. 7, 2017; and 55 oxycodone pills on May 6, 2017.
• Nancy Fossett: 90 oxycodone pills on March 9, 2016; 120 oxycodone pills on June 6, 2016, July 11, 2016; and Sept. 22, 2016; 30 zolpidem pills on Sept. 22, 2016; 15 zolpidem pills on Nov. 14, 2016; and 120 oxycodone pills on Nov. 16, 2016; and 80 oxycodone tablets on Jan. 31, 2017;
• Joyce Jenkins: 90 oxycodone tablets on May 9, 2017, and June 5, 2017; 60 alprazolam tablets on June 16, 2017; 120 oxycodone pills on June 28, 2017; 60 alprazolams on July 12, 2017; and 90 oxycodone pills on July 31, 2017.
• Ryan Cannon: 90 oxycodone tablets on March 13, 2017, April 12, 2017, May 27, 2017, June 10, 2017, June 19, 2017, July 6, 2017, and July 17, 2017.
• Sandy Cargile: 90 oxycodone pills on July 8, 2017, and July 18, 2017.

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According to federal prosecutors, Burton operated as a consulting pathologist and was tasked with finding out the causes of disease 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 opened his Milton-based firm in 2000.

Federal agents began looking into Burton after the Georgia Drug & Narcotics Agency visited him in early 2017 and found that he was prescribing painkillers to numerous people despite not operating a medical clinic or regularly seeing patients.

Beginning in July 2015, Burton allegedly issued 1,100 prescriptions for opioids, which the prosecutors said amounted to more than 108,000 individual doses to include over 66,000 30mg oxycodone pills. The indictment also charges the doctor prescribed drugs 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 U.S. Attorney's Office previously said.

For example, Burton would prescribe these drugs to people without thoroughly examining them and, at times, not meeting with them. Hunter, Haugland and Wills all engaged in a romantic relationship with Burton in exchange for prescriptions in their names as well as the names of others, according to the feds. As part of the conspiracy, the women would fill their prescriptions and sell the pills, and then obtain more prescriptions from Burton to give to paying customers.

The federal indictment charged Burton, Haugland, Danner, Truelove, Stephens and Kennedy with conspiring to distribute and dispense controlled substances — outside of the normal course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose — from July 2015 to February 2018. Burton is also charged with 10 counts of illegal drug distribution for specific prescriptions.

The federal case also included coordinated indictments filed in Bartow, Barrow, Cobb, Fayette, Floyd, Gwinnett, Hall and Paulding counties and in federal court.

The Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad is a joint task force working to investigate drug related violations. Participating agencies include the Cherokee Sheriff's Office, Canton Police Department, Woodstock Police Department, Holly Springs Police Department, Ball Ground Police Department, Cherokee County Marshal's Office, District Attorney's Office for the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit, and Georgia State Patrol. Citizens may call in tips anonymously at (770) 345-7920 or may speak to an agent by calling (678) 493-7625.

Photo: Dr. Joseph Burton's March 2018 booking photo from the Cobb County Sheriff's Office.