Doctor Pleads Guilty In Plot To Sell Thousands Of Painkillers
LIVONIA (AP) - A suburban Detroit doctor has pleaded guilty in a scheme to distribute more than 300,000 doses of a painkiller that were sold on the street for as much as $80.
Dr. Mohammad Batayneh pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy. He admits getting $100 per patient for writing oxycodone prescriptions for people who were paid to visit his Livonia clinic.
The prescriptions were filled by others and then sold to street dealers. Federal prosecutor Sarah Resnick Cohen says the doctor's office was a "pill mill."
Batayneh faces many years in federal prison but his sentencing guidelines aren't determined yet. He'll return to Detroit federal court on May 21.
The ringleader already is serving 25 years in prison. Cohen says Juan Willis operated it "just like a crack cocaine organization."
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