(NewsNation) — A Texas pharmacist was convicted Wednesday for her role in a so-called “pill-mill” pharmacy that illegally issued more than 100,000 opioid pills.
A federal jury convicted 54-year-old Deanna Winfield-Gates, of Houston, of one count of conspiracy to unlawfully distribute and dispense controlled substances.
She faces as many as 20 years in prison and is scheduled for sentencing on Jan. 11.
Winfield-Gates worked as a relief pharmacist at a cash-only Health Fit Pharmacy, which the U.S. Department of Justice said provided drugs to traffickers in exchange for money. The drugs were often provided through fraudulent prescriptions issued in the names of physicians whose identities were stolen, according to a Department of Justice news release.
Winfield-Gates was accused of filling large volumes of “cookie-cutter” prescriptions for hydrocodone, oxycodone, carisoprodol (commonly known by the brand name Soma), alprazolam (commonly known by the brand name Xanax) and promethazine with codeine.
Winfield-Gates was the last remaining defendant charged in the case. Three co-defendants previously pleaded guilty to the conspiracy, according to the release.
