Pubdate: Thu, 10 Nov 2005
Source: Times-Picayune, The (LA)
Copyright: 2005 The Times-Picayune
Contact:  http://www.nola.com/t-p/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/848
Author: Paul Rioux, St. Tammany bureau

PHARMACIST BOOKED IN DRUG PROBE

Methadone Sold Illegally, Cops Say

The owner of a Slidell drugstore that was one of the nation's top 
purchasers of methadone in September was arrested Wednesday on 
charges of selling narcotics without prescriptions at his pharmacy.

Gary Richardson, a pharmacist who owns the Medicap Pharmacy at 140 
Gause Blvd., was arrested Wednesday morning after he sold methadone 
to two undercover narcotics agents who didn't have prescriptions for 
the drug, Slidell Police Chief Freddy Drennan said.

Richardson, 54, 13477 Riverlake Drive, Covington, had been under 
investigation for about six months after authorities received several 
complaints about him dispensing unprescribed narcotics, Drennan said.

In September, Richardson's pharmacy received shipments of 53,400 
doses of methadone, a synthetic depressant commonly used to treat 
heroin addiction. That's more than any other Louisiana pharmacy and 
No. 11 among drugstores nationwide, said William Renton Jr., special 
agent in charge of the New Orleans office of the federal Drug 
Enforcement Administration, which helped with the investigation, as 
did the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office.

"This store was a significant source of drugs entering the illicit 
market," Renton said. "The numbers are particularly striking when you 
consider that there were fewer people in Slidell in September because 
of the Hurricane Katrina evacuation."

Agents executing a search warrant at the pharmacy Wednesday seized 
all prescription drugs and business records, which they hope to use 
to identify any customers who illegally bought drugs, Renton said.

Richardson, who authorities said has confessed and surrendered his 
license to operate a pharmacy, was booked with two counts of 
distributing methadone and two counts of distributing narcotics 
within 1,000 feet of a school.

Thomas James Lemoine, 39, a pharmacist who worked at the store, also 
was arrested Wednesday after he turned over three amphetamine-based 
weight-loss tablets and a dose of testosterone for which he did not 
have prescriptions, Drennan said.

Lemoine, who lives at 324 Oriole Drive in Slidell, was booked with 
two counts of narcotics possession but was not charged in the alleged 
illegal drug sales.

Renton said authorities are investigating a second Medicap Pharmacy 
owned by Richardson. He said the store, at 2230 E. Gause Blvd., was 
damaged by Katrina and has remained closed since the Aug. 29 storm.
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