He was indicted last month on 44 counts by a Greene County grand jury for allegedly engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity; conspiracy to commit engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity; Medicaid fraud; theft; and multiple counts of aggravated trafficking in drugs. A pretrial hearing is set for Sept. 29 and a jury trial is scheduled for Feb. 1 in the case, online court records show.
FIRST REPORT
An area doctor was indicted this week for running a prescription drug “pill mill” at his office in Sugarcreek Twp. between 2009 and 2014, the Greene County prosecutor announced today.
Dr. John P. Moore III, 60, of Centerville, was indicted on 44 counts related to improper prescription drug activity at his office at Synergistic Health Center. Charges include conspiracy, theft, aggravated trafficking in drugs and forgery after a two-year investigation and June 2014 raid of his offices. Nearly $100,000 was reportedly seized from Moore.
“In addition to this indictment, we filed 32 additional drug indictments (for unrelated cases) this week,” said Greene County Prosecutor Stephen K. Haller. “Clearly, Greene County has a serious drug problem. Some of those cases have been investigated for months. Most of our cases involved property related felonies to help supply the drug addiction.
“The dealers and the pill mill operators need to be prosecuted; they need to be prosecuted hard.”
Haller said a special prosecutor was assigned to Moore’s case by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.
Moore voluntarily reported today to the Sugarcreek Twp. police department to be fingerprinted and photographed. He is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 11.
“We don’t have any statement,” Moore said. “We just had some information to give to the detective. We gave it to him, and we’re glad to help.”
The indictment describes Moore as a prior convicted felon who was sentenced Oct. 7, 2002, for an illegal scheme to defraud health care programs.
The indictment also indicates that the Ohio State Medical Board voted to permanently revoke Moore’s medical license, but then stayed the decision and imposed a two-year suspension. The document said Moore’s license to practice was reinstated in February 2009 and that he was released from medical board probation in March 2012.
“Although masquerading as a health care facility, the illicit enterprise did not comply with Ohio’s laws and regulations regarding proper prescribing (of drugs),” the indictment reads. “The purpose of the illicit enterprise was to make as much money as possible for Dr. John P. Moore III.”
The indictment lists nine different patients identified only by their month and year of birth and the numerous drugs they received. The drugs included Hydracodone, Ambien, OxyContin, Suboxone, Oxycodone, Activan, Morphine, Diazepam, methadone, Opana, Fentanyl patches and others.
“We actually received a few complaints about possibly illicit activity taking place there,” Sugarcreek police Chief Michael Brown said. “And again, I’m going back to what is now two and a half years ago.”
Some people who said they are patients or family members of patients of Moore contacted this station to defend his methods. “I’m absolutely devastated,” one person wrote in an email. “I do not believe this, and I stand up for Dr. Moore!”
Kelly Funderburg, of Springfield, said Moore was her physician for three years and said he was big help in recovering from an addiction. Her treatment ended about a year ago, she said.
“He even prayed with me before (treatment) in his office,” she told News Center 7’s Kate Bartley.
Funderburg said she teared up when she saw today’s news coverage about Moore.
“I hope that none of them are true,” she said of the charges in the indictment. “I hope that this is something that just got blown out of proportion and I hope it’s, you know, bogus.”
A community forum aimed at helping residents understand drug addiction will be held from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Sept. 24 at Fairborn High School, Haller said.