L.I. Doctor, Former Health Minister Of Guyana, Sentenced For Selling Oxycodone Prescriptions

Noel Blackman, A Valley Stream doctor and the former Health Minister of Guyana and Executive Member of the World Health Organization, was sentenced to 50 months in prison and three years of supervised release on Friday for illegally distributing oxycodone, a highly addictive prescription painkiller. Additionally, he was ordered to forfeit $536,200 in illegal proceeds.

From 2015 to 2016, Blackman prescribed more than 365,000 30-milligram oxycodone pills from “pain management” clinics that he worked out of in Elmhurst, Franklin Square and Cypress Hills. When he pleaded guilty last August, Blackman admitted that, in exchange for $300 cash payments, he wrote oxycodone prescriptions for 1,920 30 milligram oxycodone pills to people he knew had no legitimate medical need for it. As described in court papers, that amount of oxycodone was worth up to $57,600 on the street.

Blackman was arrested on Feb. 7, 2016 at John F. Kennedy Airport as he tried to board a flight to Guyana. When he was arrested, officers found $30,000 concealed in his luggage.

"Today’s sentence should send a clear message to other doctors and medical professionals that when they abandon their oaths and act as drug dealers, we will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law," said Acting United States Attorney Bridget Rohde. "Blackman violated his professional oath to put his patients’ legitimate medical needs first, and instead chose to line his pockets with the proceeds of sales from oxycodone, which has ravaged communities in New York City and on Long Island. Together with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to vigorously prosecute illegal prescription drug distribution."

Photo: Shutterstock