Michigan physician Lawrence Mark Sherman, 75, was sentenced to 12 years in prison based on his conviction following a jury trial on 20 charges related to the unlawful diversion of prescription drugs. The charges on which Sherman was convicted and sentenced stemmed from his involvement in the operation of Tranquility Wellness Center, Inc. from about March 2020 through June 2021. According to the evidence presented at trial, Dr. Sherman conspired with the other defendants to illegally authorize more than 3,000 opioid prescriptions for supposed “patients” who did not have a legitimate medical need for the drugs, and who were typically brought to the clinic by “patient recruiters/marketers.” Tranquility Wellness Center accepted only cash, and charged patients not based on the service provided, but instead based on the quantity, type, and dosage of prescription opioids that the “patient” received.
The clinic also charged cash for the creation of fraudulent medical records for the supposed “patients.” Janeice Burrell and Angelo Smith paid Dr. Sherman in cash or peer-to-peer money transfer application, and only paid him if he wrote controlled substance prescriptions, not based on any supposed “medical care.” During the trial the jury heard evidence and testimony that Doctor Sherman issued more than 270,000 dosage units of Schedule II opioid prescriptions during the conspiracy. These controlled substances had a street value in excess of $6.3 million. While the unlawful controlled substance prescriptions were paid for in cash, both controlled and non-controlled “maintenance” medications were billed to healthcare benefit programs by pharmacies. Billings to the Medicare and Medicaid programs for medically unnecessary prescription drug medications and maintenance medications during this conspiracy exceeded $500,000.
