Pill Mill Doc Convicted on 467 Counts
Joel Smithers, a former doctor from Martinsville, Va., has been convicted in a new trial of 467 counts related to prescribing and distributing controlled substances. Photo credit: Southwest Virginia Regional Jail.
In the retrial, the jury ruled that Smithers, 42, is guilty of one count of maintaining a place for illegally distributing controlled substances and an additional 466 counts of illegally prescribing those substances, as stated in the indictment.
Sentencing for his new punishment is scheduled for March 3, 2025. For each distribution count, Smithers faces up to 20 years in prison, along with a $1,000,000 fine. For the single count of maintaining a place for the illegal distribution of controlled substances, he faces 20 years in prison with up to a $500,000 fine.
Prescribed Controlled Substances to Every Patient
Smithers opened an office in Martinsville in August 2015 and used it to prescribe controlled substances to every patient in his practice. That led to the distribution of more than half a million Schedule II controlled substances, according to a Justice Department press release.
Drugs that he prescribed included oxymorphone, oxycodone, hydromorphone and fentanyl. The DOJ also provided evidence that most of his patients traveled hundreds of miles just to get to him and receive drugs. One of these patients died as a result of oxycodone and oxymorphone usage Smithers prescribed.
Cash and Credit Only
Smithers didn’t accept health insurance reimbursements, which is unusual for an American medical practice, adding to the “pill mill” perception of his operation. Instead of insurance, Smithers took in more than $700,000 in cash and credit card payments, prosecutors say.
Police obtained the initial search warrant on March 7, 2017, according to a criminal complaint obtained by The Daily Muck. Two years later, a court found him guilty in the first trial.
Comments by Officials
Zachary T. Lee, acting U. S. attorney, said in the Justice Department press release about the most recent case that “patients trust doctors to make decisions based on their healthcare needs, not a perversion of their own greed.”
“For many years, this defendant betrayed the trust placed in him by his patients, his community, and the medical profession as a whole through his illegal distribution of thousands of medically unnecessary opioids,” said Lee.
After Smithers’ initial sentencing back in 2019, U.S. Attorney Thomas Cullen said, “This defendant not only violated his Hippocratic Oath to his patients, but he perpetuated, on a massive scale, the vicious cycle of addiction, despair, and destruction.”
Another Pill Mill Case
This case is the second in the last few months regarding a purported medical “pill mill.”
Back in September 2024, Christopher Viagrande of Latham, N.Y., pleaded guilty to distributing controlled substances outside the course of professional practice without legitimate medical purpose.
You can read previous coverage on that case by The Daily Muck here.
Discover More Muck
Warehouse Supervisor Sentenced to 15 Months in Prison for Stealing Millions of Dollars’ Worth of Fitbits
Report Nik Mebane | Feb 19, 2025
Ohio Corrections Officer Indicted for Sexually Abusing Inmate
Report Strahinja Nikolić | Feb 19, 2025
Weekly Muck
Join the mission and subscribe to our newsletter. In exchange, we promise to fight for justice.
Weekly
Muck
Join the mission and subscribe to our newsletter. In exchange, we promise to fight for justice.
