Yonkers Pill Mill Doc Admits To Distributing Over 100K Oxycodone Pills

YONKERS, NY — A former Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University and former psychiatry professor at Yale accepted a plea bargain for running an oxycodone pill mill.

Marc Laruelle, a 65-year-old Yonkers psychiatrist, entered a guilty plea to one count of distributing oxycodone, among other narcotics, without a legitimate medical purpose while acting outside the usual course of professional practice, Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has announced.

"Marc Laruelle abused his medical license and violated the oath of his profession when he prescribed more than 100,000 doses of a highly potent and addictive opioid without a legitimate medical need," Williams said. "As this case makes clear, we will aggressively prosecute physicians who are contributing to the national opioid crisis. Laruelle now awaits sentencing for his crime."

According to court documents, between September 2016 and October 2021, Laruelle prescribed more than 100,000 doses of oxycodone without a legitimate medical purpose and outside of the usual course of professional practice. Prosecutors noted that oxycodone is a highly potent and addictive opioid that commands high prices in the black market due to demand by drug abusers.

Laruelle often prescribed oxycodone in combination with Xanax (alprazolam) and/or Adderall (amphetamine), controlled substances that are themselves frequently abused and resold illegally. He failed to perform proper physical examinations or medical tests prior to prescribing oxycodone to patients. Laruelle also charged patients as much as $800 per prescription and prescribed large amounts of oxycodone with the understanding that the quantity would be resold in the black market.

Laruelle pleaded guilty to one count of distributing oxycodone, amphetamines and Xanax, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on January 26.

Williams praised the work of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”) New York Strike Force. The OCDETF New York Strike Force is a crime-fighting unit comprising federal, state and local law enforcement agencies supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force and the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. The Strike Force is affiliated with the DEA’s New York Division and includes agents and officers of the DEA, the NYPD, the New York State Police, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, the New York National Guard, the Clarkstown Police Department, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Port Washington Police Department and the NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

Williams also thanked the NYS Department of Health Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement for their assistance in the case.

The case is being handled by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Narcotics Unit.