State v. S.L.

The client was charged with RICO (Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act), trafficking in hydrocodone, delivery of various controlled substances, and conspiracy to traffic in hydrocodone in 2007 in Jacksonville. The client was an experienced medical professional, dually licensed as an advanced registered nurse practitioner and physician’s assistant who was practicing in a pain clinic in Jacksonville, FL. The allegations were that she was providing hydrocodone, Xanax, and Soma (a muscle relaxer) to patients without medical justification, i.e., dealing drugs.

The client had seven different attorneys previous to my involvement. We retained an expert witness who worked as an expert for the Florida Department of Health during the opioid epidemic of 2008-2012. He was able to opine that while the care was insufficient, she was acting in good faith when making recommendations to the doctors about medications and dosages to prescribe. We also filed numerous motions before trial, including various motions to dismiss for prosecutorial misconduct, speedy trial violations, and a motion to suppress evidence based on misrepresentations made by detectives in order to obtain the original search warrant for the clinic.

The State Dismisses All Charges

The case was prosecuted by the Office of Statewide Prosecution, a multi-jurisdictional agency that prosecutes complex economic and drug crimes at the state level. Two weeks before trial, and after spending eleven years and millions of dollars in the case’s prosecution, the State abruptly dismissed all charges. The client is now 69 years old. Had she been convicted, she likely would have faced a fifteen year minimum mandatory prison sentence.