U.S. drug firm ex-CEO convicted of steering opioids to 'dirty doctors'

Laurence Doud III, former CEO of Rochester Drug Co-Operative, exits the Manhattan Federal Courthouse in New York, U.S., April 23, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

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Feb 2 (Reuters) - A federal jury on Wednesday convicted former Rochester Drug Co-operative (RDC) CEO Laurence Doud of trafficking opioids to "bad pharmacies" and "dirty doctors."

Following two days of deliberations, the jury convicted Doud, 78, of conspiring to distribute illegal narcotics and conspiring to defraud the United States.

Doud, scheduled to be sentenced on June 29, could face life in prison on the charge of conspiring to distribute controlled substances.

Prosecutors in the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office noted that thiswas the first case in which a drug distributor and company executives have faced criminal charges for drug trafficking opioids.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said it shows the U.S. Department of Justice will pursue those responsible for the opioid crisis, "whether they are street level dealers or boardroom executives."

Prosecutors said Doud, driven by "greed," directed employees to ignore red flags when selling Oxycontin and fentanyl to pharmacies and doctors that ultimately distributed them for illegal use.

Doud's company RDC filed for bankruptcy in 2020. In 2019, it agreed to pay $20 million to settle criminal and civil charges related to opioid sales.

While RDC's drugs were making people sick, "what made Larry Doud ill was losing money," Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Roos said during closing arguments on Monday. Doud's directives led RDC to sell dangerous opioids to "dirty doctors" who were nothing but "drug dealers in lab coats," Roos said.

Doud's defense attorney Robert Gottlieb argued that Doud was being made a "scapegoat" for the opioid addiction epidemic. Doud will appeal the verdict, Gottlieb said.

"Today’s verdict is a monumental travesty of justice," Gottlieb said, adding he believed Doud "will prevail on appeal."

Witnesses at the trial testified that Doud and RDC's actions led to illegal sales of Oxycontin and fentanyl. They included RDC employees, a pharmacist convicted of dealing illegal opioids and an opioid addict who said she obtained illegal drugs from a Staten Island pharmacy supplied by RDC.

One witness, former RDC chief compliance officer William Pietruszewski, pleaded guilty in 2019 to conspiracy to distribute narcotics.

More than 500,000 people have died fromopioid overdoses in the past two decades, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Reporting by Dietrich Knauth; Additional reporting by Luc Cohen Editing by Noeleen Walder and David Gregorio

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