Brooklyn Pharmacist Handed Out 25,000 Oxy Pills to People Without Prescriptions: Feds

EAST FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN — The pharmacist who used to own Ekwunife Pharmacy at 5207 Church Ave. was using his storefront to deal tens of thousands of "medically unnecessary oxycodone pills" to New Yorkers between 2012 and 2015, according to the Manhattan U.S. Attorney — and on top of that, was allegedly billing most of the pills to Medicaid.

Kian Gohari is now facing 30 years behind bars for the scheme, after an eight-day trial in a Manhattan courtroom ended in two convictions Wednesday: conspiracy to distribute narcotics and conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud.

Gohari "turned his Brooklyn pharmacy into an illegal oxycodone distribution mill," peddling around 25,000 pills over three years, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said. He also allegedly "had an agreement with a co-conspirator, whereby Gohari would distribute the oxycodone pills only if the co-conspirator brought Gohari prescriptions for high-end medications — many of which were also medically unnecessary — such as HIV medications, psychiatric medications, and expensive pain gels."

Oxycodone is "a primary driver of opiate abuse in our country," Bharara said Friday.

Overdose deaths caused by opioids such as Oxycodone spiked in New York at the same time Gohari was operating his illegal oxycodone distribution ring, according to a report from the Office of the New York State Comptroller. There were 1,008 opioid-related deaths in New York State in 2014, which was quadruple the amount of deaths tallied in 2005. Kings county ranked second in the state in opioid-related deaths in 2014, according to the CDC.

Gohari was arrested for his East Flatbush drug-dealing scheme last March, and will receive his final sentence this coming march, the U.S. Attorney said.

There were initially five people charged in connection with Gohari's oxy ring; we've reached out to Bharara's office for an update on those trials.

Lead image of Ekwunife Pharmacy via Google Maps