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Frank Lewis

PDT Staff Writer

Kevin Huff, 36, of West Portsmouth was sentenced in U.S. District Court to serve 262 months in prison for his role in conspiring to distribute more than 200,000 dosage units (30mg tablets) of Oxycodone and money laundering. In addition, Huff was ordered to forfeit six properties in Lucasville and Sciotoville, Ohio; three vehicles, three ATVs, a boat, $20,000 in currency, the contents of two bank accounts totaling approximately $118,875 and his latest income tax return as proceeds of the ill-gotten gains.

Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine; Kathy A. Enstrom, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office (IRS); Kyle W. Parker, Executive Director of the Ohio Board of Pharmacy; and Kimberly C. Anderson, Interim Executive Director, State Medical Board of Ohio announced the sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Michael R. Barrett.

“Between July 2009 and June 2011 Huff conspired to illegally distribute Oxycodone and concealed the proceeds gained from the clinic he owned by purchasing real property, vehicles, and boats, as well as concealing the proceeds in bank accounts,” Stewart said. “I want to commend the investigators in the agencies named above as well as special agents with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation in Attorney General DeWine’s Office, the Ohio Organized Crime Task Force, the Rt. 23 Pipeline Task Force, Ross County Sheriff George W. Lavender Jr., Ross County Prosecutor Matthew S. Schmidt, and Chillicothe Police Chief Roger Moore for their agencies’ role in the investigation.”

According to court documents, agencies began investigating Primary Health Care clinic owned by Huff early in 2011. Primary Health Care charged each “patient” $200 in cash in return for prescriptions for Oxycodone and other narcotics without the benefit of a legitimate medical examination by a physician. The physician on staff saw approximately 25 patients per day.

“This case should serve as an example of just how serious we are about stopping those who are involved in overprescribing prescription medication,” Attorney General Mike DeWine said. “People are regularly overdosing on prescriptions that they should never have access to in the first place, and if we have to put those responsible in prison for decades, that’s what we’ll do.”

Huff received between $5,000 and $8,000 in U.S. currency three times a month for his share of the clinic’s proceeds. In 2009, Huff received approximately $245,000 in U.S. currency from the operation of the pain clinic. Huff did not deposit this cash into a bank; instead he kept the currency at several locations including his basement and in the shed behind his mother-in-law’s house. Huff used the money to pay day-to-day expenses, purchase assets, and take vacations.

The proceeds generated from the operation of Primary Health Care pain clinic represented the proceeds of illegal narcotics trafficking. Other drugs commonly prescribed also included Hydrocodone and Xanax.

Stewart said Huff purchased a house in Lucasville and concealed the purchase of the house by deeding the house in the name of another individual. Huff used $40,000 in drug proceeds to pay for the house.

Huff pleaded guilty on June 27, 2012 to one count of unlawfully conspiring to distribute oxycodone and one count of money laundering. He was sentenced to 240 months for the conspiracy followed by 22 months for the money laundering.

“Kevin Huff not only fueled the prescription drug problem in Southern Ohio, he supported addiction in several parts of the country”, Acting Special Agent in Charge Kathy A. Enstrom, IRS, Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office, said. “IRS Criminal Investigation is committed with taking the profit away from criminal enterprises and putting those individuals in jail.”

Stewart recognized District Criminal Chief Kenneth L. Parker and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Haslam from Ohio Attorney General DeWine’s Office, who are representing the United States in this case.

Frank Lewis may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 252, or at flewis@civitasmedia.com. For breaking news, follow Frank on Twitter @FrankLewisPDT.