Florida man sentenced in million-dollar pill mill case in Brunswick

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — A man from Satellite, Florida who unlawfully operated a million-dollar profiting pill mill was sentenced to 44 months in prison followed by a three-year term of supervised release.

Marc Victor Frazier, 45, was also ordered to give up more that $500,000 in assets that came from the pill mill, according to the Department of Justice in Georgia.

Frazier owned Apex Health & Wellness, Inc. and ran the "pain management clinic" between Nov. 2011 and April 24, 2013 in Brunswick, Georgia. Customers typically paid up to $300 cash to the clinic in exchange for prescriptions for controlled substances without legitimate medical purpose, according to prosecutors.

During the clinic's operation, Frazier hired Paul Spencer Ruble, a licensed and registered medical doctor who worked at Apex Health & Wellness. Ruble pleaded guilty to a similar charge on Aug. 22 and is awaiting sentencing.

The Department of Justice said an average of 30 drug-seeking patients were seen daily at the clinic during its 17-month operation to reportedly receive a prescription for oxycodone and alprazolam.

United States Attorney Edward Tarver said Frazier made a handsome profit from exploiting drug-addicted patients.

More than 400 deposits that totaled more than $1.8 million were made to the Apex Health & Wellness bank account, prosecutors said.

"The menace posed by these clinics cannot be understated," Tarver said. "The heroin epidemic, which is sweeping many parts of the country, can be directly traced to the drug prescribing practices of these phony medical clinics where the owners and doctors prosper and the patents suffer grievously.”

Frazier was sentenced in the United States District Court on Sept. 19.

Cox Media Group