(PORTSMOUTH, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, Scioto County Prosecutor Mark Kuhn, Ohio Board of Pharmacy Director Kyle Parker, and Scioto County Sheriff Marty Donini announced today that the 69-year-old owner and operator of an illicit "pill mill" was sentenced to a decade in prison.
Scioto County Common Pleas Judge William Marshall sentenced George Marshall Adkins, aka Marshall Adkins, to ten years in prison this afternoon. The West Portsmouth man was the owner of Greater Medical Advance, Inc. in Wheelersburg and was convicted of operating the clinic as a pill mill from June 2009 until December 2011.
"George Adkins allowed an overwhelming amount of prescription drugs to leave his clinic knowing those pills would only be abused," said Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. "Those pills are believed to have contributed to the massive rise in overdoses and overdose deaths in southern Ohio."
Adkins pleaded guilty last month to charges of Engaging in a Pattern of Corrupt Activity, Conspiracy to Engage in a Pattern of Corrupt Activity, Permitting Drug Abuse, Aggravated Trafficking in Drugs and Forgery.
Adkins' case represents one of the first convictions on the state level against a non-prescriber for the management and activities connected to a pill mill. Investigators found that Dr. Victor Georgescu, of Centerville, Ohio, illegally prescribed many of the clinic's prescription medications. Georgescu was facing similar charges, but died prior to his trial.
"I think this case demonstrates how serious we are about stopping prescription drug abuse in Scioto County and in Ohio," said Scioto County Prosecutor Mark Kuhn. "Sometimes it only takes one pill to end someone's life, and we need to do everything we can to stop overdose deaths."
Tammy Newman, who at one time owned part of the clinic, was also sentenced today to spend nearly five years in prison on charges of Conspiracy to Engage in a Pattern of Corrupt Activity and Permitting Drug Abuse.
"The key to our success in this case was the diligent cooperation between our local and state law enforcement along with the patience from our community as this case developed and was successfully prosecuted," said Scioto County Sheriff Marty Donini. "Hopefully we can now move on and focus on the more positive aspects of our community."
Special prosecutors with the Ohio Attorney General's Office assisted the Scioto County Prosecutors Office with the case. The Portsmouth Police Department, Ohio State Medical Board, Ohio Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), Lawrence County Major Crimes Task Force, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office and RANGE Taskforce, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources-Division of Watercraft, the DEA, the FBI, and the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio were also involved in the investigation.
–30–
Images
Photo of George Marshall Adkins (JPEG)
Media Contacts
Dan Tierney: 614-466-6242
Jill Del Greco: 614-466-3840