|
 Following
two days of deliberations, the jury convicted Doud, 78, of
conspiring to distribute illegal narcotics and conspiring to defraud
the United States.
Doud, scheduled to be sentenced on June 29, could face life in
prison on the charge of conspiring to distribute controlled
substances.
Prosecutors in the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office noted that this
was the first case in which a drug distributor and company
executives have faced criminal charges for drug trafficking opioids.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said it shows the U.S. Department of
Justice will pursue those responsible for the opioid crisis,
"whether they are street level dealers or boardroom executives."
Prosecutors said Doud, driven by "greed," directed employees to
ignore red flags when selling Oxycontin and fentanyl to pharmacies
and doctors that ultimately distributed them for illegal use.
Doud's company RDC filed for bankruptcy in 2020. In 2019, it agreed
to pay $20 million to settle criminal and civil charges related to
opioid sales.
While RDC's drugs were making people sick, "what made Larry Doud ill
was losing money," Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Roos said during
closing arguments on Monday. Doud's directives led RDC to sell
dangerous opioids to "dirty doctors" who were nothing but "drug
dealers in lab coats," Roos said.
[to top of second column] |
Doud's defense attorney Robert Gottlieb argued that Doud was being
made a "scapegoat" for the opioid addiction epidemic. Doud will
appeal the verdict, Gottlieb said.
"Today’s verdict is a monumental travesty of justice," Gottlieb
said, adding he believed Doud "will prevail on appeal."
Witnesses at the trial testified that Doud and RDC's actions led to
illegal sales of Oxycontin and fentanyl. They included RDC
employees, a pharmacist convicted of dealing illegal opioids and an
opioid addict who said she obtained illegal drugs from a Staten
Island pharmacy supplied by RDC.
One witness, former RDC chief compliance officer William
Pietruszewski, pleaded guilty in 2019 to conspiracy to distribute
narcotics.
More than 500,000 people have died from opioid overdoses in the past
two decades, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
(Reporting by Dietrich Knauth; Additional reporting by Luc
CohenEditing by Noeleen Walder and David Gregorio)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
