A Lake Worth doctor, 65, was indicted and arrested on Tuesday as part of the DEA’s ongoing Operation Pill Nation crackdown on prescription ‘pill mills,’ according to U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer.
Dr. Cesar Deleon is accused of illegally distributing the pain killer oxycodone. He faces up to 20 years in prison on each of 55 counts and up to a $1,000,000 fine if convicted, prosecutors said.
According to the indictment, Deleon operated his clinic, Trinity Medical Center, as a pill mill that offered patients prescriptions for highly addictive oxycodone and other controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of professional medical practice.
Deleon also prescribed oxycodone to patients willing to pay him higher fees and engaged in sexual activity with female patients at the clinic in exchange for prescriptions, free office visits and money, federal investigators said.
Prescription drug dealers can sell a 30 mg oxycodone pill on the street for $10 to $30 and more, according to Ferrer.
