PORTLAND – The second of two men charged with running a drug distribution ring with a podiatrist who wrote prescriptions in exchange for cash and cocaine pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court.
Neal Laverriere, 31, of Biddeford pleaded guilty to health care fraud and conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone.
Adam Goodwin, 37, of Scarborough pleaded guilty Monday to the same charges.
They are scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 12, each facing as much as 20 years in prison.
Laverriere and Goodwin conspired with John Perry to obtain oxycodone prescriptions fraudulently and distribute the pills in southern Maine.
Perry, 52, pleaded guilty to the same charges and was sentenced on June 22 to serve eight years in prison.
Perry was a licensed podiatrist until 2011, and owned Atlantic Foot and Ankle in Portland until December 2010. In 2009 and 2010, he was responsible for the illegal distribution of more than 18,000 oxycodone pills, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Federal prosecutors said in a court filing that they would have presented evidence at trial that Perry prescribed oxycodone and other drugs without any medical purpose in the names of patients he never treated.
In exchange, Perry received money or cocaine for his own use, court records show.
Prosecutors said Perry prescribed oxycodone pills to drug traffickers based in Connecticut whose names were given to him by Goodwin.
Laverriere filled most of the prescriptions himself at pharmacies in southern Maine and sold the pills to an unnamed buyer for cash, according to court records.
Goodwin was a go-between, delivering cash from the dealers to Perry, according to court records.
Some of the drug profits were used by a business group that included Goodwin to finance a failed strip club in Westbrook, called Dreamers Cabaret, according to court records.
Prosecutors say Perry’s fraudulent prescriptions caused MaineCare and Medicare funds to be spent for controlled substances that he knew were not medically necessary.
Scott Dolan can be contacted at 791-6304 or at:
sdolan@pressherald.com
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