United States of America v. Dzung Ahn Pham

Santa Ana, California criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances in violation of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

The panel affirmed the district court's denial of Dzung Ahn Pham's motion to withdraw his guilty plea to

conspiracy to distribute controlled substances in violation of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).



Pham, formerly a licensed physician, admitted in his plea agreement to conspiring with a pharmacist to prescribe and

distribute over 150,000 narcotic pills, and to issuing the prescriptions knowing he was doing so "outside the usual

course of professional medical practice and without a legitimate medical purpose.” This admission echoes the

applicable regulation, 21 C.F.R. § 1306.04(a), that renders such prescriptions ineffective.



Pham sought to withdraw his plea on the ground that it was not knowing and voluntary, citing Ruan v. United States,

597 U.S. 450 (2022), which the Supreme Court decided a few months before he entered his plea. He contends that he

was not adequately apprised that Ruan requires the government to prove that he knew he was not "authorized”

under the CSA to issue the prescriptions, citing the failure of the plea agreement and colloquy to expressly use the word

"unauthorized” or the phrase "not authorized.” Pham maintains that he believed he was authorized to write the

prescriptions, and his admission failed to establish he intended to violate the statute, or knew he was doing so.

Affirmed on appeal.