HOUSTON – A 64-year-old Miami, Florida, woman has agreed to pay $500,000 to resolve violations of the Controlled Substances Act, including failing to maintain effective controls, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
Karen Moody is the co-owner of Atlantic Biologicals Corporation, a licensed wholesale distributor registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration to distribute Schedule II-V controlled substances. The company is headquartered in Miami, Florida, with distribution warehouses there and in Morrisville, North Carolina. The company distributed pharmaceutical and medical products under its DEA registration through National Apothecary Solutions.
From 2018 through at least March 2023, nearly all opioids NAS distributed were sold to Houston-area pharmacies, according to DEA records. Most were hydrocodone/acetaminophen and oxycodone in their highest strengths which are commonly diverted to the Houston-area black market. During that time, the company also distributed millions of dosage units of opioids, as well as large quantities of other commonly abused controlled substances, including carisoprodol, alprazolam and promethazine with codeine.
Under the Controlled Substances Act, distributors must provide effective controls and procedures to guard against theft and diversion of controlled substances to include reporting suspicious orders and conducting due diligence on their customers. According to the allegations, NAS failed to report a single suspicious order to the DEA, despite at least 128 orders that were unusually large, deviated substantially from normal patterns or occurred with unusual frequency.
“For half a decade, Moody and Atlantic Biologicals turned a blind eye to keeping these dangerous and addictive controlled substances out of the wrong hands. Now, her bill has come due,” said U.S. Attorney Ganjei. “Moody will personally pay $500,000 to the United States; this is in addition to the $450,000 her company is paying. When distributors fail to identify and report suspicious orders of controlled substances, they are a part of the problem—and they will face the consequences.”
“NAS is the latest example of a drug wholesaler profiting at the expense of Houstonians, fueling the opioid crisis by allowing millions of highly addictive controlled substances to slip into the wrong hands,” said Special Agent in Charge of the Houston Division Brian C. Leardo. “The DEA is committed to holding companies like NAS accountable and combating the illegal diversion of controlled substances that drives drug overdose deaths and crime in our communities.”
DEA conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill O. Venezia prosecuted the case.
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no admission of liability.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office — Southern District of Texas — U.S. Department of Justice press release.