Federal Jury Convicts Four in Federal Pill Mill Scheme

A federal jury issued a guilty verdict against four defendants for their roles in running “pill mills” in Knoxville, Tennessee. A federal jury convicted Sylvia Hofstetter of Miami, Florida and Courtney Newman, Cynthia Clemons, and Holli Womack, all of Knoxville, Tennessee.  The jury returned guilty verdicts against Hofstetter for a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) conspiracy, a drug conspiracy, money laundering, and maintaining drug-involved premises. The guilty verdicts against Newman, Clemons, and Womack were for maintaining drug-involved premises. 

According to the Department of Justice (DOJ) release, the three-month trial consisted of testimony from 55 witnesses, including former patients, employees, medical providers, and expert medical witnesses.

The charges involved the distribution of over 11 million tablets of oxycodone, oxymorphone, and morphine that generated over $21 million of clinic revenue, with a corresponding street value of $360 million. At least four clinics in Tennessee were deemed to be “essentially pill mills.” Before establishing the Tennessee mills, Hofstetter worked at a Florida pill mill that was raided by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in December 2010.

As the DEA closed in on pill mills in Florida, the defendants shifted focus to Tennessee.

The charges resulted from an investigation by the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section (OCGS), the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee, and the FBI High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), comprised of investigators assigned to the task force by the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office, Knoxville Police Department, Blount County Sheriff’s Office, Roane County Sheriff’s Office, Harriman Police Department, and Clinton Police Department.

The DOJ explained, “This case was part of the department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) and the HIDTA programs.  OCDETF is the primary weapon of the United States against the highest level drug trafficking organizations operating within the United States, importing drugs into the United States, or laundering the proceeds of drug trafficking.  The HIDTA program enhances and coordinates drug control efforts among local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.  The program provides agencies with coordination, equipment, technology and additional resources to combat drug trafficking and its harmful consequences in critical regions of the United States.”