STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A Staten Island doctor and seven others are facing federal charges in connection with an alleged $24 million scheme to distribute 1.2 million oxycodone pills.
The alleged drug-trafficking ring was based out of a doctor’s office in Brooklyn. Prosecutors linked the office to Dr. Somsri Ratanaprasatporn, who public records state is a resident of Rossville.
Between December 2018 and October 2022, Ratanaprasatporn — in conjunction with Leticia Smith, Bassam Amin, Omar Elsayed, Yousef Ennab, Michael Kent, Anthony Mathis and Raymond Walker — allegedly operated the ring out of a medical practice on Linden Boulevard in East New York, according to court documents.
Individuals allegedly would approach the medical office, drop $200 in the mailbox outside the office, and in exchange receive an electronic prescription for 30 mg of oxycodone, according to a court detention memo.
Ratanaprasatporn gave Smith, her office manager, access to her own electronic prescription login credentials and Smith would then issue prescriptions, according to prosecutors.
Amin, Ennab and Elsayed filled the prescriptions at pharmacies in Brooklyn and Staten Island. Kent, Mathis, and Walker oversaw “crews” of sham patients who received medically unnecessary prescriptions, prosecutors allege.
Some of the money recovered from Leticia Smith’s residence following a raid by DEA agents Wednesday (Courtesy of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York)
The Staten Island doctor would vouch for the prescriptions by speaking with pharmacists or receiving paperwork related to prior authorizations. In one instance, she vouched to an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent that she had issued prescriptions for oxycodone to six patients who all had “back pain.”
In an intercepted phone call by DEA agents, Ratanaprasatporn and Smith allegedly discussed the medical practice’s oxycodone prescriptions.
Smith is heard telling Ratanaprasatporn “anybody could call and say they’re [the patient], and then just come and drop it, you know. Drop it in the box and then we don’t know, we can’t see them.”
The duo also allegedly discussed altering medical files to make it appear the medical office always checked the identification card of patients who were prescribed oxycodone. The discussion allegedly happened after DEA agents interviewed Ratanaprasatporn at her home and asked the doctor to explain why she issued nine oxycodone prescriptions for a patient who had died, after the date of his death, according to a court detention memo.
Ratanaprasatporn and the seven other individuals are charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone, among other related crimes, prosecutors said.
Smith and Kent are also charged with money laundering in connection with their alleged efforts to hide the proceeds of the illegal oxycodone distribution ring.
The group unlawfully distributed more than 11,000 prescriptions for oxycodone, officials allege.
During the execution of a search warrant Wednesday morning, members of law enforcement recovered several hundreds of thousands of dollars in U.S. currency from Smith’s residence. Police also recovered two handguns that Kent was observed tossing from a rear door of his residence.
“Doctors and medical professionals have a professional obligation to do no harm, but, as alleged, the defendants callously supplied more than one million pills to traffickers for distribution, resulting in dangerous opioids flooding the streets of this district,” United States Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.
“[We] will continue to hold DEA Registrants and other medical professionals to the highest possible standards and also hold them accountable when they knowingly endanger members of the community,” DEA Special Agent-in-Charge Thomas M. Tarentino added.
If convicted of the drug charges, the defendants face up to 20 years’ imprisonment, according to prosecutors. If convicted of the money laundering charges, Smith and Kent face up to 20 years’ imprisonment for each count.
