Doctor charged in connection with Logan County pill mill

A Texas doctor has been charged in connection with running a Logan County Pill mill.

According to a release from U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin’s office, Dr. Fernando Gonzales-Ramos, 47, of El Paso, Texas, was charged with conspiracy to distribute and dispense controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of professional practice.

He was charged last week in a legal filing known as an information, which usually means that a defendant has agreed to plead guilty and is cooperating with prosecutors.

According to Monday’s release, Gonzales-Ramos knowingly distributed controlled substances for illegitimate medical purposes from December 2012 through March 3 of this year.

On March 2, according to a criminal complaint made by the FBI, an individual cooperating with law enforcement entered a building located in Logan that Gonzales-Ramos was using at the time to distribute narcotics and paid $450 cash in exchange for a prescription for the painkiller hydrocodone.

Early the next day, law enforcement saw several people standing outside the building. Agents then acquired a search warrant.

Upon execution of the warrant, agents discovered a number of individuals waiting inside to get written prescriptions. Law enforcement also discovered that the building did not have usual items such as an examination table or basic medical equipment. In addition, it was learned the building had no running water.

According to the release, Gonzales-Ramos was a practicing physician in and around Logan County until moving to El Paso, Texas.

Gonzales-Ramos faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine as a result of the charges filed against him. No court date has been set.