Three More People Plead Guilty to Conspiring with Northern Kentucky Doctor to Distribute Controlled Substances

COVINGTON, KY—Three more individuals have entered guilty pleas to conspiring with an Augusta, Ky. doctor and others to illegally distribute prescription drugs as part of a drug trafficking conspiracy.

Brad Begley, 48, and his wife, Paula Begley, 42, both of Clay City, Ky. and Danny McClain, 36, of Irvine, Ky. pleaded guilty today to conspiring with Milton Brindley, a former doctor, to distribute controlled substances. Brindley, William Forbis, Renee Forbis, James Brooks, and Nick Tipton have already entered guilty pleas to the same offense.

The defendants admitted in their guilty pleas that co-defendant Tipton recruited them to see Dr. Brindley as patients and to splitting the prescription pills obtained from Brindley with Tipton. They knew that Tipton and others were selling the pills obtained through the conspiracy. Brad and Paula Begley also admitted to recruiting other individuals to act as patients as part of the conspiracy.

Certain members of the conspiracy acted as transporters to recruit other individuals to join the conspiracy and bring them to Dr. Brindley’s medical office in Augusta. The transporters paid for the doctor visits and paid Brindley an additional fee for each controlled substance prescription issued to the patients. The transporters themselves also received prescriptions for controlled substances from Brindley in return for money or for bringing the other patients to the office.

The transporters took the prescriptions to the pharmacy and paid to have them filled. The transporters then split the pills with the other individuals posing as patients and subsequently sold their share of the pills.

Brindley admitted in July of 2009 that he issued these prescriptions outside the usual course of his medical practice and without a legitimate medical purpose. Brindley acknowledged that over the course of a four year period that ended in June of 2007, he distributed 45.6 grams of oxycodone and more than 40,000 narcotic pills that included hydrocodone, benzphetamine, and some codeine, phentermine, clonazepam, diazepam, carisoprodol, and lorazepam in exchange for cash and other favors. Brindley also agreed to the forfeiture of over $35,000 in currency, his interest in the real estate containing his medical office, and a large quantity of pornography seized from that office. He also agreed to a judgment in the amount of over $591,000 against him to represent the gross proceeds he received for these illegal actions.

James A. Zerhusen, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Robert L. Corso, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Timothy D. Cox, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, jointly made the announcement today.

The investigation was conducted by Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Kentucky State Police. The United States was represented in the case by Assistant United States Attorneys Anthony Bracke and Alamdar Hamdani.

A final member of the conspiracy, Andrew Stamper, is scheduled to enter a guilty plea on October 13, 2009.

Each person who entered a guilty plea today is scheduled to appear for sentencing before United States District Court Judge Danny C. Reeves in Covington, Ky., on January 11, 2010. Each faces a maximum prison sentence of five years. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the United States Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of sentences.

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