By Forum Staff
On Tuesday, Michael Kent was sentenced in Brooklyn federal court to nine years in prison for his role in recruiting sham patients, paying off complicit pharmacists and illegally distributing oxycodone throughout the city in a narcotics conspiracy based in nearby East New York.
Kent pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute oxycodone in September 2023. Kent also paid $635,875 in forfeiture in advance of his sentencing, prosecutors noted.
As set forth in the indictment and publicly filed documents, between December 2018 and October 2022, Kent and his co-defendants operated a drug distribution ring out of a medical practice on Linden Boulevard in East New York. Together, they unlawfully distributed more than 11,000 prescriptions for oxycodone, amounting to more than 1.2 million oxycodone pills, which carry a street value of at least $24 million. They made millions of dollars from the scheme. Nine defendants have been charged in this matter, including one doctor and four Brooklyn-based pharmacists. In addition to Kent, five co-defendants have pleaded guilty. Three co-defendants are scheduled for trial in January 2025.
As part of his role in the scheme, Kent recruited approximately 45 sham patients who were prescribed more than six kilograms of medically unnecessary oxycodone over a four-year period. Kent paid these individuals for the use of their names, picked up the oxycodone from pharmacists, whom he paid off, and sold the oxycodone to dealers for distribution on the street. Kent then laundered the drug proceeds through a shell company he created called “Michael’s Cleaning Service,” using the money to buy three buildings in New York City. When he was arrested in October 2022, law enforcement officers recovered two loaded firearms from his home and seized thousands of dollars in cash.
“The opioid epidemic has destroyed countless families and communities in our district, New York City and across the country,” said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace. “The proliferation of pill mill clinics, like the medical office involved in this case, significantly contributes to the opioid crisis. Today’s sentencing holds the defendant accountable for his role in callously diverting highly potent and addictive drugs from medical offices to the streets of New York.”
Oxycodone (pictured) is a highly addictive opioid used to treat severe and chronic pain conditions. Every year, millions of Americans abuse oxycodone, and the misuse of prescription painkillers like oxycodone leads to hundreds of thousands of annual emergency room visits. More than 14,000 Americans died from prescription opioid overdoses in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Oxycodone prescriptions have enormous cash value to drug dealers. For example, one oxycodone 30 mg tablet, which was the dosage prescribed in this case, can be sold by dealers on the street for between $20 and $30 in New York City.
“Michael Kent knew the harmful effects of his pill mill scheme, and knowingly jeopardize the health and safety of those individuals he profited from, all while exacerbating the opioid crisis. Today’s sentencing sends a clear message to those individuals putting profits over human lives and looking to capitalize from the illegal sale of addictive opioids,” said DEA New York Special Agent in Charge Frank Tarentino.
