Crime & Safety

Illegal Prescription Drug Ring Hit Shaker Heights Pharmacy

The U.S. Attorney's Office announced a sentencing in a man who led a prescription drug ring that illegally obtained drugs from a number of pharmacies in the area, including Shaker Heights.

A Cleveland man was sentenced to 12 years in prison Tuesday for his role in a prescription drug scheme that allowed a number of people to illegally obtain prescription drugs from a number of area pharmacies, including locations in Shaker Heights.

The U.S. Attorney's Office For the Northern District of Ohio said that Louis Eppinger, 53, of Cleveland, led a crime ring that obtained blank prescription pads and used them to forge prescriptions for Oxycontin and Percocet pills.

Eppinger then hired people to have them filled at pharmacies throughout the region, including pharmacies in Shaker Heights.  The pills were then sold on the street, according to court documents. 

"We have seen a huge increase in prescription drug abuse in Ohio, and this case demonstrates the lengths people will go to defraud and profit from pills," said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. "Instead of dealers shipping in drugs from South America, we now have people forging prescriptions."

Besides Eppinger, six other people have pleaded guilty to related crimes. They are: Patricia Arnold, age 61, of Cleveland; Anthony H. Perry, age 42, of East Cleveland; Elizabeth A. Davis, age 40, of East Cleveland; James Byrge, age 62, of Cleveland; Judy Burrows, age 25, of Cleveland, and Brittany N. Glass, age 22, of Cleveland. 
 
The crime ring obtained prescription drugs from pharmacies in Shaker, Cleveland, Willoughby and Garfield Heights, according to court documents.     

The U.S. Attorney's Office did not identify the pharmacy in Shaker where the illegal drug purchases were made.


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