04:06 PM CDT on Tuesday, October 4, 2005

From 11 News Staff Reports

HOUSTON, TX -- United States Attorney Chuck Rosenberg announced Tuesday the conviction of six Houston-area pharmacists of conspiracy to unlawfully dispense and distribute controlled substances, namely hydrocodone and promethazine with codeine.

Otukayode Adeleke Otufale, 46, Isaac Simeon Achobe, 50, Chicha Kazembe Combs, 30, Andre‘ Dion Brown, 38, John David Wiley III, 40, and Anthony Dwayne Essett, 39, were also convicted of unlawfully dispensing and distributing controlled substances and various counts of money laundering.

All six defendants, convicted of all counts of which they were accused, were immediately remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal Service pending their sentencing on January 5, 2006.

The jury’s verdicts came after approximately two and one-half days of deliberation and six weeks of trial. During trial, the United States presented evidence proving that these six pharmacists and two other codefendant pharmacists illegally distributed 1.7 million tablets of hydrocodone and 2,500 gallons of promethazine with codeine, a highly addictive narcotic cough suppressant, from October 2002 through December 2003.

Otukayode Adeleke Otufale is the owner of Med Stop Pharmacy formerly located at 5901 Hillcroft. Isaac Simeon Achobe is the owner of American Choice Pharmacy located at 8449 W. Bellfort. Chicha Kazembe Combs and Andre‘ Dion Brown are co-owners of Mason Road Pharmacy formerly located at 829 S. Mason Road, Katy, Texas. John David Wiley III and Anthony Dwayne Essett are co-owners of I-10 East Pharmaceutical Services located at 11929 I-10 East.

The six pharmacists were indicted in November 2004, along with Callie Hall Herpin, M.D., 34, Etta Mae Williams, 47, Karen B. Williams, 40, Darryl Armstrong, 41, and Paul Henry, 41.

In June 2005, three additional defendants, Omar Fahie, 24, Eric Craft, 37, and Will Bailey III, 35, were added to the indictment. With the exception of Craft and Bailey, who are presumed innocent and pending trial on October 17, 2005, all of the above defendants have been convicted and are pending sentencing.

The evidence established that Dr. Herpin, with the assistance of Etta and Karen Williams, routinely sold prescriptions for hydrocodone and promethazine with codeine for cash to individuals who did not have a medical need for the drugs. Dr. Callie Herpin, Etta Williams, Darryl Armstrong, and Omar Fahie each testified during the trial. Dr. Herpin testified that her medical practice consisted of selling prescriptions to individuals. Some individuals purchased prescriptions just for themselves while others purchased stacks written for friends who never appeared in Dr. Herpin’s office or for fictitious persons. When the prescriptions were written for fictitious persons, Etta Williams testified that she and Karen Williams created lists. Those lists would consist of names from the phonebook, along with addresses and fictitious telephone numbers and dates of birth. The lists were used by Dr. Herpin to write the prescriptions and ultimately by five of the six pharmacists to fill the illegal prescriptions.

Individuals, including co-defendant Omar Fahie, at times purchased 100 to 400 of these illegal prescriptions from Herpin’s office and then had them filled at the pharmacies owned by the co-defendants. Fahie and others testified that they sold the illegally obtained narcotics on the street.

The evidence established that these pharmacists used the phony identifying information from the prescriptions and/or the lists to create patient profiles in their records for the fictitious individuals. Each of the indicted pharmacists filled hundreds of illegal prescriptions from Dr. Herpin. Otufale illegally dispensed over 658,000 hydrocodone pills and more than 976 gallons of promethazine with codeine. Achobe illegally dispensed over 16,000 hydrocodone pills and more than 33 gallons of promethazine with codeine. Combs and Brown illegally dispensed over 183,000 hydrocodone pills and more than 254 gallons of promethazine with codeine. Wiley and Essett were convicted of dispensing over 290,000 hydrocodone pills and more than 411 gallons of promethazine with codeine.

At sentencing, the drug conspiracy count carries a penalty of 5 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. The drug distribution counts carry either a one- or five-year maximum penalty and as much as a $250,000 fine. The money laundering counts carry either a 10 or 20 year maximum penalty and as much as a $500,000 fine. Parole has been abolished in the federal prison system.

The successful prosecution was the result of a joint investigation by agents of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS/OIG), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS/CI), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Al Balboni and Shannon Voll.