DrugBuyers.Com: Arrests made in Texas

Just an intersting news story folks. This was on the news last night, from what I've heard this was one of the first OP's and didn't follow the rules.....This is the story from the associated press

DALLAS (AP) -- Three physicians, two pharmacists and
another man
have been indicted on charges alleging they conspired
to illegally
distribute the painkiller hydrocodone through a
Web-based pharmacy
operation, the U.S. Attorney's office said Tuesday.
The physicians never had face-to-face contact with
the customers
for whom the prescriptions were written, the indictment
unsealed
Tuesday said.
Pharmacist Clayton Fuchs, 32, was arrested Tuesday
at his home
in Rockwall and was charged with one count of
conspiracy to
distribute a controlled substance, one count of a
continuing
criminal enterprise and one count of money laundering,
officials
said.
If convicted, he faces a statutory maximum sentence
of life
imprisonment and a $2.5 million fine.
Also arrested Tuesday was Fuchs' stepfather, Eugene
Gonzales,
48, of Garland. He was charged with one count of money
laundering
and faces a maximum 20-year imprisonment and a $250,000
fine, if
convicted.
Pharmacist Waldrick Lemons, 29, of Desoto and
physician Kenneth
Speak, 76, were charged with one count each of
conspiracy to
distribute a controlled substance. If convicted, they
face a
maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Speak
practices in Dallas, authorities said.
Physicians Stephen Thompson, 49, of Garland and
Robert Ogle, 55,
of Rockwall were each charged with one count of
conspiracy to
distribute a controlled substance and one count of money
laundering.
If convicted, they face statutory maximum sentences
of 25 years,
and a $500,000 fine.
Officials say they expect Lemons, Speak, Thompson
and Ogle to
surrender later this week.
According to the indictment, Fuchs operated Friendly
Pharmacy
and Main Street Pharmacy, businesses that both had
Web-based
operations.
Prosecutors say both pharmacies solicited customers
through
their Web sites. From Jan. 1, 2000, to March 31, 2001,
Thompson,
Speak and Ogle allegedly prescribed controlled
substances,
including hydrocodone, for customers who lived
throughout the
United States.
"The pharmacies, through Clayton Fuchs, Waldrick
Lemons and
other pharmacists, knowingly filled and dispensed
controlled
substances on the basis of Internet prescriptions
approved by
Stephen Thompson, Kenneth Speak, Robert Ogle and Ricky
Nelson,"
the U.S. Attorney's news release said.
Nelson is an Oklahoma City physician who was
convicted in
January of prescribing addictive narcotics over the
Internet.
Fuchs allegedly controlled all the incoming money,
and
determined what payments the participants in the scheme
would
receive, prosecutors said.
Fuchs and Gonzales made an initial appearance in
front of a
federal magistrate Tuesday.
Hydrocodone is a powerful painkiller found in
prescription drugs
such as Vicodin and Lortab.
According to the Texas Lieutenant Governor's office,
hydrocodone
is one of the most abused drugs in the country. In
Texas, it is one
of the top drugs stolen from pharmacies or diverted to
illegal use.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights
Reserved.)