Nassau Doctor Pleads Guilty to Selling Oxycodone Prescriptions

Noel Blackman, a medical doctor and the former health minister of Guyana, who operated from “pain management” clinics in Elmhurst, Franklin Square and Cypress Hills, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiring to illegally distribute oxycodone, a highly addictive prescription pain medication. When sentenced, Blackman, 68, of Valley Stream, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

“Blackman violated his professional oath to put his patients’ legitimate medical needs first and instead chose to line his pockets with the proceeds from the sale of illegal prescriptions for oxycodone, a highly addictive drug that has been linked to the rise in heroin trafficking and other social ills in our communities,” said U.S. Attorney Robert Capers.

According to court filings and statements made in court during the guilty plea, between 2015 and February 2016, Blackman wrote prescriptions for more than 365,000 oxycodone pills. Around midnight on Feb. 7, 2016, Homeland Security agents removed Blackman from a plane at John F. Kennedy International Airport en route to Guyana and arrested him in connection with the conspiracy to illegally distribute oxycodone. At the time of his arrest, more than $30,000 was found concealed in his luggage.

At his plea, Blackman admitted that he wrote oxycodone prescriptions for persons whom he knew had no legitimate medical need for them in exchange for cash. As part of his guilty plea, Blackman agreed to forfeit $503,200 attributable to illegal prescription sales.

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