(SPRINGFIELD, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Clark County Prosecutor Andy Wilson today announced that Dr. Han M. Yang has been sentenced to three years in prison for crimes related to running two “pill mills” in Dayton and New Carlisle.
“This case began when law enforcement received a tip that a doctor was prescribing powerful painkillers to a pregnant woman in her ninth month. Our message to pill mill doctors who sell prescriptions for profit without regard to the health of their patients is that we will investigate them; we will prosecute them; and they will receive tough sentences like the one issued today if they contribute to Ohio’s prescription drug abuse problem just to make a quick buck,” said Attorney General DeWine.
Clark County Common Pleas Judge Richard O’Neill sentenced Dr. Yang on the following counts:
- Engaging in a Pattern of Corrupt Activity: three years in prison and a $15,000 fine
- Trafficking in Prescription Drugs (felony of the fifth degree): 12 months in prison and a $2,500 fine
- Five counts of Trafficking in Prescription Drugs (felony of the fourth degree): 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine
- Theft by Deception: 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine
Judge O’Neill also ordered that Dr. Yang pay restitution of over $17,000 stolen in Medicare/Medicaid fraud and forfeit over $100,000 in proceeds from prescription drug trafficking. Dr. Yang will also be subject to three years supervised release after his prison term and a five-year suspension of his driving privileges. The prison sentences are to run concurrently.
The joint investigation was led by Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly and the Regional Agencies Narcotics and Gun Enforcement Task Force (R.A.N.G.E Task Force). R.A.N.G.E. Task Force members include Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer; the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI); Clayton Police Department; Germantown Police Department; Five River Metro Parks; Miami Township Police Department; New Lebanon Police Department; Perry Township Police Department; Riverside Police Department; and the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF). Other participating agencies included Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck, the Ohio Attorney General's Office Health Care Fraud and Special Prosecutions Units, the Ohio State Medical Board, the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy, the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).
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