Date: 03-24-2017

Case Style:

Case Number: 0:16-cr-60215-BB

Judge: Beth Bloom

Court: United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (Miami-Dade County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: Donald F. Chase, II

Defendant's Attorney: Richard Merlino

Description: Miami, FL - Former Pharmaceutical Salesman Sentenced to More than 5 Years in Prison for Role in $13 Million Dollar Conspiracy Involving Oxycodone

A former pharmaceutical salesman was sentenced today to 70 months in prison for his role in a $13 million dollar money laundering conspiracy involving more than 2 million dosage units of oxycodone.

Jonathan Sendor, 60, of Aurora, Colorado, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering involving criminally derived property valued greater than $10,000, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956(h) and 1957.

According to court documents, between March 2010 and June 2011, Sendor’s co-conspirators operated six pain clinics in Broward and Palm Beach counties with the purpose of unlawfully dispensing oxycodone that had not been prescribed for a legitimate medical purpose. Approximately 2,007,695 oxycodone 30 mg pills were dispensed and distributed through the pain clinics before they were closed following the execution of search warrants in June 2011. The co-conspirators operated the clinics to ensure that the maximum amount of oxycodone would be prescribed without regard to a legitimate medical need, and purely for the sake of profit. The pain clinics failed to comply with Florida standards for the use of controlled substances. The pain clinics generated approximately $13,466,598 from the unlawful prescribing and dispensing of oxycodone.

For his role in the scheme, Sendor created multiple companies, building upon the connections he had formed as a pharmaceutical salesman, to act as a quasi-broker between the doctors of the pain clinics needing oxycodone and the wholesalers. Sendor misled the wholesale pharmaceutical companies and told them that he would function as an inspector and check whether any prospective customer pain clinic was operating a pill mill by conducting site visits and by requiring the clinic manager/doctor to complete a site survey. Sendor misrepresented the results of the site survey and directed the doctors, pain clinic managers, owners and other coconspirators to lie on the survey form.

In October 2010 the law changed and clinics were prohibited from dispensing oxycodone on-site. Sendor then assisted in opening two pharmacies – one in Boca Raton, Florida and another pharmacy in Orlando, Florida. Patients of the pain clinics were then directed to these pharmacies for oxycodone.

This case is the result of the ongoing efforts by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) a partnership that brings together the combined expertise and unique abilities of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, dismantle and prosecute high-level members of drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations and enterprises.

Mr. Greenberg commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI, the DEA, PBSO, Coconut Creek Police Department, and Boca Raton Police Department. Mr. Greenberg also recognized the South East Regional Task Force (SERTF) and the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office Multi-Agency Diversion Task Force (PBSO MAADTF). SERTF is headed by the DEA and includes representatives from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, Pembroke Pines Police Department, Hallandale Beach Police Department, Lauderhill Police Department, Margate Police Department, and Coconut Creek Police Department. PBSO MAADTF is headed by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and includes representatives from the Boca Raton Police Department, Boynton Beach Police Department, DEA, Delray Beach Police Department, Florida Department of Health, Greenacres Police Department, IRS-CI, Jupiter Police Department, Riviera Beach Police Department, Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office, PBSO, Palm Beach Gardens Police Department and West Palm Beach Police Department.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Outcome: Defendant was sentenced to five years in prison.

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Defendant's Experts:

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