A Kensington man was sentenced Thursday to three years in a federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after being convicted by a federal jury in February.
William Crittenden, 52, was convicted of "conspiring to distribute oxycodone and alprazolam, and eight separate counts of unlawfully distributing oxycodone," according to officials from the Maryland State's Attorney's office.
According to court documents and evidence from the trial, Crittenden and co-defendants owned and operated Healthy Life, a "pain management" clinic, first in Owings Mills and then in Timonium, from March 2011 until its closing on May 15, 2012.
Both locations attracted "large and unruly crowds," according to officials, and customers caused disturbances outside the locations, used narcotics inside the clinic and sold narcotics in the parking lot. Officials said 80 percent of the customers came from out of state.
Crittenden was hired by Gerald Wiseberg, a co-defendant, to write narcotics prescriptions without a legitimate medical need, according to officials. He was paid $1,500 per day for his work, earning over $104,000 over just four months.
According to officials, Crittenden:
- Knowingly provided prescriptions to customers, even after testing showed the presence of illegal drugs like cocaine and marijuana.
- Knowingly provided prescriptions to people addicted to narcotics who were looking to feed their addictions.
- Knowingly provided prescriptions to individuals who wanted to sell the narcotics on the street.
- Falsified patient records to make it appear he had performed full physical exams.
Officials said Crittenden resigned his position in August 2011 after the Maryland Board of Physicians started an investigation into his prescribing practices. His medical license was suspended by the board.
Download the ABC2 News app for the iPhone, Kindle and Android
