Sentencing The Mastermind Last February, I interviewed Evan Ratliff, author of The Mastermind. The book tells the story of how lone programmer Paul La Roux, built an online drug empire responsible for dumping millions of pain pills into the U.S. La Roux enticed hundreds of doctors to take part in his [...]
Strike Force Stops Flow of Illicit Opioids In October 2018, the Justice Department's Criminal Division created the Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid (ARPO), Strike Force. This team consists of federal agents, prosecutors, and specialists from different government departments. Together, they combine data analytics and law enforcement to spot dangerous prescription patterns and [...]
The Mastermind Behind the World’s Largest Online Drug Cartel Since 1995, when the FDA approved OxyContin, igniting an opioid crisis, many bad actors have emerged willing to do almost anything to make a buck off the insatiable demand for opioids in our country. But none less known, and more destructive than [...]
Insys Therapeutic Execs Sentenced: Will Doctors Be Next? In February of 2019, we interviewed Palm Beach Post reporters Pat Beall and John Pacenti, about the trial of former executives from opioid manufacturer Insys Therapeutics. They’d been accused of racketeering, bribing doctors to prescribe their high-powered opioid fentanyl spray, Subsys, to patients [...]
Greg interviews Michael H. Robertson, a prosecutor with the Somerset County’s Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey. Michael and his team recently repurposed an anti-bullying app called STOPit Solutions to help members in their community anonymously report crimes, drug related and otherwise. Greg asks Michael about how the app came into being and [...]
Greg interviews Mike Tobin, the Community and Public Affairs Specialist with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Cleveland, OH. As the Community and Public Affairs Specialist, Mike oversees the office’s interactions with both the media and the community, covering a multitude of high profile cases, including those relating to the opioid epidemic. Greg [...]
Greg interviews Jac A. Charlier, the National Director for Justice Initiatives at TASC (Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities) in Chicago, Illinois. Jac was instrumental in the creation of STEER (Stop, Triage, Engage, Educate and Rehabilitate) a pre-booking law enforcement and drug treatment linkage program operating in Montgomery County, Maryland. Like many police deflection [...]
Greg interviews John Tharp, a sheriff in Lucas County, Ohio, responsible for launching the Drug Abuse Response Team (D.A.R.T.). Founded in 2014, the D.A.R.T. program aims to make a difference in the opioid epidemic in Western Ohio by aiding in the treatment, education, and support of those suffering from substance abuse, as well [...]
Greg interviews John Wetzel, Secretary of Corrections at the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. Secretary Wetzel helped found a pilot program that combats substance abuse among inmates through the administration of Vivitrol – a medication that reduces drug cravings and blocks the “high” many users feel while under the influence. Initially implemented at SCI [...]
