Five more defendants were sentenced after Operation Stateline Sweep charged 66 different defendants and handed out more than 190 counts in the indictment.  The sweep targeted drug trafficking activity in Arkansas.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Arkansas announced the most recent sentencing on November 2, 2012.  

Adrian Wither received 120 months in prison and three years of supervised release.  He pled guilty to selling crack cocaine to undercover agents on March 2, 2012.  

Cordney Morgan was sentenced to 42 months in prison and three years of supervised release after he used a firearm to help in drug trafficking.  A search warrant of Morgan’s residence turned up a semi-automatic pistol, digital scales, and packaged marijuana.  

Fredrick Law received 70 months in prison and four years of supervised release after pleading guilty to distributing 50 grams of methamphetamine.  A search warrant of his home found 58.3 grams of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.  

Marcel Johnson received 100 months in prison and three years of supervised release after he sold 12.13 grams of crack cocaine to undercover agents in Ozan, Arkansas.  

Alvin Weekly was sentenced to 140 months in prison and six years of supervised release after he sold crack cocaine within 1,000 feet of a public school.  He sold 11.5 grams of crack cocaine every week during the investigation by the FBI.  

Two more men pleaded guilty to charges around the time the five other defendants were sentenced.  Chadwick Williams pleaded guilty to selling 280 grams of crack cocaine.  A search warrant of his residence found 133.5 grams of cocaine, 27.8654 grams of crack cocaine, manufacturing equipment, and more.  Patrick Cornelius pled guilty to distributing over 28 grams of crack cocaine.  

United State Attorney Conner Eldridge announced, “Large-scale operations like this require persistence, and this office will continue to ensure that each and every defendant involved in the drug trafficking activity in this case is held responsible for his or her actions.”

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation

On November 6, 2012 the Food and Drug Administration announced the approval of Xeljanz (tofacitinib) for the treatment of moderate and severe rheumatoid arthritis in adults who did not respond or were intolerant to methotrexate.  

Badrul Chowdhury, M.D., Ph.D., stated, “Xeljanz provides a new treatment option for adults suffering from the debilitating disease of RA who have had a poor response to methotrexate.” Chowdhury is the director of the FDA’s Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Rheumatology Products.  

The FDA reports that rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that causes the immune system to attack otherwise healthy joints and tissues around the joints.  About 1.5 million Americans suffer from the disease.  

The drug was approved before its projected fee goal date of November 21, 2012.  Xeljanz will come in a pill form.  The patient will take the pill twice a day in a hope to block molecules called “Janus kinases” which cause inflammation.  

Side Effects of Xeljanz

During clinical trials, patients taking Xeljanz showed an increased risk of infections and especially opportunistic infections.  These are infections that occur when the immune system is weakened.  The drug can also can an increased chance of tuberculosis, lymphoma, and certain kinds of cancers.  There is an increased chance of high cholesterol and a decrease liver enzymes in blood tests as well.  Check the boxed warning with the drug for more information.  

Because of the long term side effects of Xeljanz, the FDA has announced that it is scheduling a study in the future to look at the effects between different dosages and compare results to patients receiving other kinds of treatment.  

The clinical testing involved a total of seven different clinical trials.  The volunteers all had moderate or severe rheumatoid arthritis, and most saw improvements after taking Xeljanz compared to patients receiving a placebo.  

Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration
 

On November 9, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced that Paul Boccone was sentenced to 180 months in prison and three years of supervised release after he illegally gave thousands of customers oxycodone prescriptions and other prescriptions as well.  The lead nurse for Chantilly Specialists, Charles Brown, received 60 months in prison and three years of supervised release as well.  

Chantilly Specialists was a pain management clinic located in Chantilly, Virginia, and Boccone was the owner of the facility.  He had no qualifications, training, or medical education, and he hired medical professionals who had no training in pain management as well.  Boccone was charged on August 3, 2013 for four crimes: conspiracy to distribute, distributing oxycodone, health care fraud, and payroll tax evasion.

Sadly, four patients associated with Chantilly Specialists died of overdoses when the clinic was in operation.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office called the clinic a “haven for drug addicts, servicing thousands of customers traveling hundreds of miles.”  After one of the patients died from an overdose, Buccone told Brown to alter the patient’s file to cover up the death.  

According to evidence presented at the trial, Brown prescribed over 800,000 oxycodone pills to more than 600 customers throughout the clinic’s operation.  In one case, 14,400 oxycodone pills were provided to one addict alone.  

The FBI Washington Field Office, the IRS’s Criminal Investigations Division, and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General were in charge of the investigation.  The Fairfax County Police Department assisted in the investigation as well.  

Assistant United States Attorney Michael P. Ben’Ary and Special Assistant United States Attorney and Virginia Attorney General Marc J. Birnbaum were in charge of the investigation.  The two defendants named in this article were the only people charged during the investigation.  

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation