News Nearby: Woman Indicted for Distributing Prescription Drugs

A McKees Rocks resident has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of violating federal narcotics laws, U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton announced Thursday.

The six-count indictment named 54-year-old Carol Combs as the sole defendant.

According to the indictment, Combs distributed oxycodone unlawfully on five occasions, and conspired to distribute oxycodone and oxymorphone between Aug. 24, 2010, and Jan. 20, 2012.

"Carol Combs is charged with selling large amounts of oxymorphone and oxycodone that she fraudulently obtained from ," said U.S. Attorney Hickton.

"She led a large organization that preyed upon people with addiction and profited from the sale of these prescription drugs."

The law provides for a maximum total sentence at each count of 20 years in prison, a fine of $1 million or both. Under the federal sentencing guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

The Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case. An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. 

The  doctor from whom she is accused of receiving the drugs—40-year-old Oliver Herndon— pleaded guilty Tuesday to health care fraud and related charges in federal district court.

Judge Arthur Schwab said Herndon's maximum sentence could be up to 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine and mandatory restitution payments.

However, the assistant U.S. attorney suggested a sentence of 135 months, or just more than 11 years.

Kaufman summarized events observed by the DEA in the last year, including undercover detectives who were prescribed high doses of narcotics by Herndon.

He said Herndon prescribed 10,800 tablets of 30 mg oxycodone and 3,600 tablets of 30 mg oxymorphone, resulting in a cost to insurance companies of between $400,000 and $1 million.

Out of 128 pharmacies in western Pennsylvania, 87 refused to fill his prescriptions and one in Troy Hill had a sign in its window stating it would not fill prescriptions prescribed by Herndon.

This story originally appeared in Peters Patch.