South Florida Doctor Convicted Of Participating in a Conspiracy to Illegally Dispense Opioids and Other Drugs

Dr. Andres Mencia, 64, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida was convicted today by a federal jury in Fort Lauderdale, of participating in a conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Benjamin G. Greenberg for the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Adolphus P. Wright of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division; Special Agent in Charge Shimon R. Richmond of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); and Special Agent in Charge Mark Selby of  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

According evidence admitted at trial, Dr. Mencia ran Adult & Geriatric Institute of Florida lnc, d/b/a AGI Medical & Dental (AGI), in Oakland Park, Florida. Beginning in or around January 2014 and continuing through October 2017, Dr. Mencia, and office personnel Oscar Luis Ventura-Rodriguez, 41, of Ft. Lauderdale, Nadira Sampath-Grant, 51, of Margate, and John Mensah, 50, of Miami, conspired to perform sham consultations with cash-paying patients.  The evidence showed that the true and intended purpose of the consultations was to improperly issue the patients’ prescriptions for opioids and narcotics, such as Oxycodone, OxyContin and Percocet, in exchange for cash payments.  Pursuant to Dr. Mencia’s instructions, co-conspirators kept track of the drug-seeking patients by identifying them as “CS” (controlled substance) “patients.”  On occasion, Dr. Mencia provided his co-conspirators pre-signed prescriptions to issue the “CS” patients prescriptions for controlled substances in his name.  During the course of the conspiracy, Dr. Mencia was not providing a medically meaningful consultation but was in fact acting outside the scope of his professional practice and without legitimate medical purpose. 

Dr. Mencia is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas on Sept. 7, at 1:30 p.m. in Fort Lauderdale.

Ventura-Rodriguez, Sampath-Grant and Mensah previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States by unlawfully distributing controlled substances.  Judge Dimitrouleas sentenced Ventura-Rodriguez to serve 60 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.  A re-scheduled sentencing date has not yet been set for Sampath-Grant.  Sentencing is set for John Mensah on Aug. 24, at 2:15 p.m.

The investigation was conducted by DEA, HHS-OIG and ICE-HSI.  The Aventura Police Department, City of Miami Police Department, Miami-Dade Police Department, and Miami Gardens Police Department assisted in the investigation.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Gilfarb of the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney Adam G. Yoffie of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.