'Pill Mill' Doctor in Oxycodone Ring Sentenced to Prison

KENSINGTON, MD – A Kensington physician, who had already lost his medical license, was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison for overseeing a “pill mill” that sold narcotics to people who didn’t need them.

William Crittenden III, 52, was convicted by a federal jury on Feb. 19 of conspiring to distribute oxycodone and alprazolam, and eight separate counts of unlawfully distributing oxycodone.

After serving his prison term, Crittenden must complete three years of supervised release.

“State and federal authorities are working to shut down ‘pain clinics’ that are really just fronts for criminals who divert pharmaceutical drugs,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in a news release. “William Crittenden prescribed opioid drugs to people who had no medical need for the drugs. Pharmaceutical pills can be just as harmful as illegal drugs when they are used without proper oversight.”

According to trial evidence and court documents, in March 2011, co-defendant Gerald Wiseberg hired Crittenden as medical director at Healthy Life, a pain management clinic. Healthy Life first opened in Owings Mills, and later moved to a larger space in Timonium. Both locations attracted large crowds who used narcotics inside the clinic and sold narcotics in the parking lot, prosecutors said in a news release.

Customers to Healthy Life paid at least $300 for an initial visit and at least $250 for all subsequent visits, with the fees paid upfront. Crittenden was paid $1,500 a day by the managers of Healthy Life, and received a total of $104,500 over just four months, federal official said.

In return, Crittenden knowingly provided prescriptions to people who were addicted to oxycodone and only wanted more pills to feed their addictions. He also gave prescriptions to individuals who wanted to sell the narcotic pills on the street. Authorities said Crittenden offered prescriptions to Healthy Life customers even after their urinalysis results showed the presence of illicit drugs such as cocaine and marijuana.

Crittenden resigned from Healthy Life in August 2011 when the Maryland Board of Physicians began investigating his prescribing practices. Ultimately, the state board suspended his medical license.

Wiseberg, who was not a doctor, established the standard operating procedures for Healthy Life, including which drugs the doctor could prescribe and the maximum dosage amounts of the drugs. To maximize profits, the physicians, including Crittenden, were encouraged to prescribe the maximum amount of oxycodone to each customer.

Crittenden was acquitted on 15 of the drug distribution counts.