AUSTIN (KXAN) — A co-owner of several Texas pharmacies, including two in the Austin area, was convicted Monday by a federal jury of illegally distributing more than 1.5 million doses of controlled substances, including over 1.1 million oxycodone and hydrocodone pills, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Clint Carr, 32, of Cypress, Texas, was indicted in June 2018. Carr and another defendant, Dustin Curry, co-owned CC Pharmacy locations in Houston, Austin and Round Rock. Federal prosecutors say Carr and a co-conspirator illegally sold the powerful prescription painkillers in bulk for cash “based on mostly forged or stolen prescriptions brought in by drug couriers posing as staff of long-term care facilities,” according to the DOJ.
“CC Pharmacy brought in over $5.5 million from the unlawful sale of these controlled substances,” DOJ said in a statement. “Evidence at trial showed that Carr used these drug proceeds to finance a lavish lifestyle, including the down payment on a $100,000 Ford pickup truck.”
The jury found Carr guilty on all eight counts. He was convicted on four counts of unlawfully distributing controlled substances, two counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity, one count of conspiracy to unlawfully distribute controlled substances and a count of conspiracy to launder money, according to the DOJ.
Carr has been released from custody on a $250,000 bond, pending sentencing that is set for May 27, according to court records. Carr faces up to 140 years in federal prison.
Michael Wynne, an attorney representing Carr, told KXAN on Wednesday he had “no substantive comment to provide at this time.”
Oxycodone and hydrocodone are generic names for addictive semi-synthetic opioids often prescribed to treat pain. They are two of the most commonly prescribed opioids involved in overdose deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There were more than 191 million opioid prescriptions dispensed in the U.S. in 2017.