Florida Pharmacist Convicted in Massive Oxycodone Scheme That Flooded Communities With 335,000 Pills
Jury finds Olushola Yusuf guilty of running pill mill operation from two pharmacies, charging cash prices 10 times higher than normal
MIAMI — A federal jury convicted a Tampa pharmacist yesterday for orchestrating a sprawling oxycodone distribution conspiracy that pumped more than 335,000 high-dose pills into South Florida communities, authorities announced.
Olushola Yusuf, 60, who owned and operated two pharmacies in Broward County, dispensed oxycodone 30mg tablets to nearly every customer who walked through her doors — regardless of whether they had any legitimate medical need for the powerful opioid, according to court documents and trial evidence.
The maximum-strength pills, typically reserved for seriously ill patients battling chronic cancer pain or recovering from traumatic injuries, were sold to patrons at roughly 10 times the normal cost. Yusuf required all payments in cash.
Some customers paid as much as $1,000 monthly to obtain the drugs, prosecutors said. Others were drug dealers who arrived to pick up prescriptions on behalf of dozens of patients who were not present at the pharmacies.
The scheme operated through Yusuf’s two businesses: Boots LLC, doing business as Striderite in Margate, and Chans Pharmacy Plus Inc. in Pembroke Pines. Customers drove long distances across Florida to have Yusuf fill prescriptions that no other pharmacy would accept.
Trial witnesses testified that Yusuf kept the doors to her pharmacies locked during business hours and instructed employees to open them only for certain identified customers.
The conviction came after a federal jury found Yusuf guilty of conspiracy to illegally distribute drugs and five counts of illegal drug distribution. The verdict followed warnings from both her own employees and the Drug Enforcement Administration about the dangers of her pharmacy operations.
Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division said the conviction sends an unmistakable message to those who abuse positions of public trust.
“The defendant abused the public trust by using her pharmacies to unlawfully distribute deadly opioids,” McDonald said.
U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida was more pointed in his assessment.
“Olushola Yusuf did not simply ignore red flags. She built her business around them,” Quiñones said. “She knowingly flooded South Florida communities with more than 335,000 high-dose oxycodone pills, even after her employees and the DEA warned her about the dangers of her conduct.”
The maximum penalty Yusuf faces is 20 years in prison for each count, with sentencing scheduled for Oct. 14, 2026.
Her co-defendant, Saman Gimenez, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and is set to be sentenced this October.
DEA Chief of Operations Matthew W. Allen emphasized the unique responsibility pharmacists bear in preventing drug diversion.
“Pharmacists occupy a position of public trust and serve as a critical safeguard against the diversion of controlled substances,” Allen said. “By dispensing hundreds of thousands of oxycodone pills to virtually anyone willing to pay inflated cash prices, the defendant abandoned that responsibility, exploited addiction, and endangered lives for personal profit.”
FBI Co-Deputy Director Christopher Raia highlighted the broader toll of the opioid epidemic.
“By distributing dangerous and highly addictive narcotics, the defendant demonstrated a clear disregard for their community and endangered countless residents who should have been able to trust their pharmacist,” Raia said.
Oklahoma Business Owner Convicted of $30M Medicare Fraud Scheme That Preyed on Seniors and Military Families
Jury finds Mark Loftis guilty of using stolen patient data to generate fake orders for braces and glucose monitors, netting over $8 million in illegal payouts
TAMPA, Fla. — A federal jury in the Middle District of Florida convicted an Oklahoma chiropractor and medical supply company owner yesterday for orchestrating a yearslong scheme that attempted to defraud Medicare, TRICARE, and veterans’ health programs out of more than $30 million by purchasing patient information and generating fake doctors’ orders for equipment patients neither wanted nor needed.
Mark Loftis, 39, of Cushing, Oklahoma, paid over $1 million to marketers who worked with call centers to persuade elderly and disabled Americans to provide their personal health insurance information, according to court documents and evidence presented at trial.
Loftis and his co-conspirators then used that data to obtain signed orders for orthotic braces and continuous glucose monitors — but those orders came from telemedicine doctors and nurse practitioners who never examined the patients and often never even spoke to them, prosecutors said. The fraudulent orders were then used to bill federal health care programs.
In total, Loftis obtained over $8 million from the false and fraudulent claims, though the overall scheme sought to extract more than $30 million from the system.
The scheme continued for three years, even as Loftis received a steady stream of complaints from beneficiaries and family members who reported that their elderly parents suffered from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, making them especially vulnerable to the sales tactics employed by his conspirators.
“The defendant turned private medical data into a pipeline for personal profit,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. “Every fake doctor’s order generated was a direct attack on systems built to care for some of our nation’s most vulnerable. Yesterday’s verdict makes clear that if you exploit our seniors and military families to fill your own pockets, you will answer for every dollar stolen.”
Investigators also revealed that Loftis concealed a conspirator’s management role in his company and continued billing claims generated by other unenrolled medical suppliers, further obscuring the scope of the fraud.
“The defendant bought patient data and used it to generate sham medical orders, targeting seniors and people with disabilities for exploitation,” said Miranda L. Bennett, Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations at the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. “This verdict makes clear that HHS OIG and our law enforcement partners will hold accountable anyone who tries to defraud these programs or prey on the people they serve.”
The jury convicted Loftis of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for Oct. 7, 2026. A federal district court judge will determine the final sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
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