Oncologist, pill mill owner among those convicted in Fort Worth-area hydrocodone case

Emerson Clarridge
·2 min read

Two doctors and five pharmacists were among 46 people who participated in an $18 million pill mill scheme from clinics in the Fort Worth area, juries concluded earlier this year.

The defendants were charged in U.S. District Court in September with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.

Dr. Caesar Capistrano, 61, and Dr. Tameka Noel, 36, wrote prescriptions for hydrocodone, oxycodone, alprazolam, carisoprodol, zolpidem, phentermine and promethazine with codeine knowing that the drugs would be diverted to the street for illicit use, according to a criminal complaint.

The lead defendant, Capistrano, an oncologist, was convicted at trial on Jan. 28 of three counts of conspiracy to dispense a controlled substance and two counts of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. He owned R.G. Medical and Lancaster Oncology.

He and five coconspirators, pharmacists Ethel Oyekunle-Bubu, Wilkinson Oloyede Thomas, and Christopher Kalejaiye Ajayi and recruiter Brian Kincade and recruit Alphonse Fisher, were convicted at trial, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas said on Thursday.

Forty-one defendants pleaded guilty before a trial.

Noel pleaded guilty in November to conspiracy to dispense a controlled substance and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Capistrano and Noel were assisted by a clinic manager, Shirley Williams. They used a network of recruiters to enlist “patients” from the community and homeless shelters, the complaint alleged.

Recruiters paid each “patient” a fee, usually $50 to $200, to obtain prescriptions from Capistrano and Noel. The recruiters, who paid the clinic based in part on the amount of drugs prescribed, then filled the prescriptions at complicit pharmacies and diverted the drugs for resale on the street, the U.S. Attorney’s Office alleged.

At the clinic, many of the “patients” were seen not by the doctors, but by Williams, who held neither a medical license nor a DEA registration, according to the complaint. After a perfunctory conversation with the “patient,” Williams coordinated with Capistrano and Noel to prescribe drugs without a legitimate medical purpose.

Capistrano issued prescriptions for more than 524,000 doses of hydrocodone, 430,000 doses of carisoprodol, 77,000 doses of alprazolam, and 2.07 million doses of promethazine with codeine, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

In seven years, Noel issued prescriptions for more than 200,000 doses of hydrocodone, 55,000 doses of carisoprodol, 14,000 doses of alprazolam, and 450,000 doses of promethazine with codeine, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

The DEA Dallas Field Division’s Fort Worth office conducted the investigation.

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