ABINGDON, Va. (AP) - A North Carolina doctor and his wife who were linked to a man’s overdose death in Virginia have pleaded guilty to federal drug charges.
Dr. David Francis Lelio, 57, and Nadja Siiri Kujanson-Lelio, 50, both of Charlotte, North Carolina, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Abingdon, Virginia, to one count each of conspiracy to distribute prescription opioids, U.S. Attorney Thomas T. Cullen’s Office said in a statement.
Lelio also pleaded guilty to an additional count of making a false statement.
Prosecutors alleged that between 2016 and 2019, Lelio wrote more than 60 prescriptions for oxycodone to patients without a legitimate medical purpose. Some of those patients lived in Wythe County, Virginia. Lelio would then share the prescriptions with his wife, who reimbursed the patients for the cost of filling the prescriptions, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
Lelio later denied the allegations to authorities.
In February 2019, the Wythe County Sheriff’s Office discovered the body of Michael Miles, 63, of Charlotte, North Carolina, in a home, the agency said. Deputies then found multiple prescriptions, including oxycodone, that were prescribed by Lelio, news outlets reported, citing the sheriff’s office.
The couple was set to be sentenced in December.
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