Two Brooklyn men on Thursday were sentenced to prison for their involvement in a large oxycodone trafficking scheme.
According to Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, pharmacists Mohamed Hassan and Yousef Ennab were sentenced to 18 years and 30 months in prison, respectively, for dispensing and distributing oxycodone from pharmacies in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.
Co-defendant Anthony Mathis, a street-level narcotics dealer from New Windsor, New York, was sentenced to 36 months in jail.
According to federal authorities, the case brought down a large-scale criminal network that was flooding New York City streets with extremely addictive opioid drugs. The plan resulted in the unlawful distribution of over 1.6 million oxycodone pills, with an estimated street value of over $48 million.
According to prosecution documents and trial testimony, Hassan and Ennab were licensed pharmacists who obtained oxycodone for sale through false prescriptions. Hassan operated around 20 pharmacies in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island, including outlets known as Nile RX, Prospect Care, Downtown RX, and Forest Care. Ennab worked as the supervising pharmacist at Forest Care on Staten Island.
The organization depended on prescriptions for 30-day supplies of 30 mg oxycodone supplied by a Brooklyn medical practice that operated as a pill mill. Many of the prescriptions were written for patients whom the doctor had never seen and, in some cases, utilized stolen identities. According to prosecutors, the strongest oxycodone pill available is 30mg, which is usually reserved for individuals with severe medical issues.
These medications were filled at Hassan-controlled pharmacies, including one where Ennab worked. Hassan and Ennab worked with street-level traffickers to distribute the tablets in exchange for money. Insurance companies were also charged for medicines that served no legitimate medical purpose.
Mathis was instrumental in enlisting dozens of people to pose as nominal patients and utilize stolen identities to obtain prescriptions without the victims’ knowledge. Another co-defendant obtained prescriptions using those phony names.
Seven other defendants had previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the scam, including a doctor, her office receptionist, and several pharmacists. Three of the defendants are still awaiting sentencing. Two street dealers were already sentenced to long prison terms.
Mathis and Ennab were sentenced to forfeit $535,989.12 and $13,472.76, respectively. Hassan will be obliged to surrender further funds, the amount of which will be determined at a later date.
“The opioid epidemic has caused incalculable harm in our communities and this criminal ring fueled the proliferation of pills on the street,” Nocella said in a statement. “The corrupt pharmacists who filled illegitimate oxycodone prescriptions to supply drug dealers, acted out of pure greed and complete disregard for the harm they were causing.”
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