PITTSBURGH, Pa. — A federal grand jury indicted the manager of an opioid addiction treatment practice with sites in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
Christopher Handa, 47, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is named in a four-count indictment for unlawfully dispensing controlled substances and health care fraud.
Handa, a manager at Redirections Treatment Advocates, LLC, is accused of conspiring to create and submit unlawful prescriptions for buprenorphine, also known as subutex or suboxone. Redirections Treatment Advocates, LLC is believed to have had locations in Washington and Bridgeville in Pennsylvania, plus sites in Morgantown, Moundsville, and Weirton.
Buprenorphine can treat pain and addiction to narcotic pain relievers, but carries a high risk of addiction.
According to local Washington paper The Observer-Reporter, federal investigators searched at least one of the treatment facilities in Pennsylvania in January.
Scott Brady, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, told the Observer-Reporter that three other locations had been searched in West Virginia — Moundsville, Weirton, and Morgantown.
Handa is additionally accused of submitting fraudulent claims to Medicaid for payments to cover the costs of unlawfully prescribed buprenorphine.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions, U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady of the Western District of Pennsylvania, and U.S. Attorney William J. Power of the Northern District of West Virginia issued a joint release to the media Tuesday.
“We are unified with our sister districts to combat those who believe they can hide behind professional services and violate the law,” said Powell. “We will continue our joint effort to prosecute the opioid crisis at its very source.”
Handa could face up to 40 years in prison if convicted of all charges; including a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each of the two counts charging him with unlawfully dispensing buprenorphine, a Schedule III controlled substance; a maximum sentence of 10 years and a fine of up to $1 million for the charge of conspiracy to unlawfully dispense a Schedule III controlled substance; and a maximum 10-year sentence and a fine of up $250,000 for one count of health care fraud.
The indictment is the third in Western Pennsylvania since Sessions announced the formation of the Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit, which conducted the investigation.