A 42-year-old Martinsville doctor convicted on 467 drug-related charges has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison.
Joel Smithers opened his medical practice in Martinsville in August 2015. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia, Smithers prescribed controlled substances to every patient he saw.
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The drugs involved in Smithers’ scheme included oxymorphone, oxycodone, hydromorphone, and fentanyl. Most of his so-called patients traveled hundreds of miles to reach his office. Smithers, who did not accept insurance, collected over $700,000 in cash and credit card payments by March 7, 2017, when federal agents executed a search warrant at his practice.
In total, Smithers was found responsible for distributing over 500,000 Schedule II controlled substances.
“Dr. Smithers operated like a drug dealer with a prescription pad, flooding communities with addictive and deadly opioids, all while pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Attorney General Jason Miyares.
Smithers’ DEA registration was revoked in April 2019, and he was convicted later that year. However, following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that changed the legal standard for jury instructions in cases involving the illegal distribution of controlled substances by healthcare providers, Smithers was granted a new trial.
At the conclusion of a three-week jury trial in December 2024, he was found guilty of one count of maintaining a place for the illegal distribution of controlled substances and 466 counts of unlawfully prescribing Schedule II drugs.
“This defendant’s actions betrayed his oath to his patients, his community, and the healthcare system at large,” Acting United States Attorney Robert N. Tracci said after the sentencing on September 2. “When doctors betray the trust placed in them, they must be held accountable.”
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