West Philadelphia Pharmacy Employee Convicted in Illegal Oxy Pill Mill Scheme

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Anmol Singh Kamra, 27, of Upper Darby, PA was convicted today at trial with conspiracy to distribute oxycodone outside the usual course of professional practice and with no legitimate medical purpose.

Kamra, a pharmacy technician at Campus Pharmacy in West Philadelphia, conspired with George Fisher, a physician, and Frank Brown, both charged separately, to illegally distribute thousands of oxycodone pills to people suffering from addiction.  From about December 2012 through about March 2016, Kamra, Fisher, and Brown orchestrated and executed a scheme to turn the pharmacy into a “pill mill” in which Kamra knowingly filled fake oxycodone prescriptions written by Fisher in sham “patient” names, and gave the oxycodone pills to Brown to sell in street level drug deals.

At times, Kamra would sell drugs without a prescription and then request that Fisher backdate a fake prescription in an attempt to cover the tracks.  At trial, Kamra testified that this backdating of prescriptions was a mere “courtesy” on behalf of the doctor so patients could receive their prescriptions in a timely manner, but undercover video evidence showed otherwise.  This small pharmacy in West Philadelphia sold so many opioids that some were hidden some under the sink for fear that their distributor would notice the over-abundance and cut them off for exceeding the allowable limit.

“Kamra was operating nothing more than a corrupt pill mill,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “The misuse of opioids is killing our citizens, and this defendant significantly contributed to our region’s crippling opioid epidemic.  We have to do everything possible to stop the illegal distribution of these deadly drugs, especially by professionals entrusted to prescribe and monitor their use.”

“Kamra diverted thousands of oxycodone pills to the street, taking advantage of those struggling with addiction amid our area’s devastating opioid crisis,” said Michael T. Harpster, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “Yet another medical professional, looking to profit from someone else’s misery. The FBI will never stop working to put pill mills out of business, and the people who run them behind bars.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Mary Kay Costello and Amanda Reinitz.