CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - A West Virginia doctor was sentenced Tuesday to a year and a half in prison for illegally distributing opioids.
Federal prosecutors said Jeffery Addison, 65, illegally distributed painkillers after he was forced to surrender his DEA license for failing to comply with federal drug prescribing rules. He pleaded guilty in September to one count of distribution of oxycodone.
U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. of the Southern District of West Virginia also sentenced Addison to three years of supervised released following the end of his prison term.
Charges against Addison, of Charleston, were announced earlier this year as part of a regional law enforcement task force focusing on the illegal prescription of opioids. Authorities said the effort has led to charges against 70 people who are responsible for the distribution of 40 million pills.
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