Arlington pharmacist accused in federal prescription case
An Arlington man who owns a DeSoto pharmacy was among four people arrested Wednesday after federal indictments were unsealed accusing them of recruiting homeless people in a scheme to illegally sell narcotics.
Ndufola Kigham, 44, owner, operator and pharmacist in charge of GenPharm Pharmacy, on Wheatland Road in DeSoto, is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.
Dr. Richard Andrews, 63, of Dallas and Kigham were released on bail after surrendering their Drug Enforcement Agency registration numbers, which prohibits them from prescribing and dispensing controlled substances, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a news release.
The indictment says that from about January 2013 through July 2014, Andrews, Kigham and others conspired to distribute oxycodone and hydrocodone “without a legitimate medical purpose and not in the usual course of professional practice.”
Kigham dispensed at least 70,000 oxycodone pills by filling prescriptions written by Andrews, the release said.
The conspiracy included paying homeless or very poor people to pose as patients at certain medical clinics to obtain prescriptions for oxycodone and hydrocodone and then to fill those prescriptions at designated pharmacies.
On conviction, the statutory maximum penalty is 20 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine, the release said.
Numerous other defendants have been charged in the case. Five have pleaded guilty, and the others are set for trial in June, the release said.
Mitch Mitchell: 817-390-7752, @mitchmitchel3
This story was originally published January 22, 2016 at 11:52 AM with the headline "Arlington pharmacist accused in federal prescription case."