HOUSTON (Covering Katy News) - Nine people, including Fulshear and Stafford residents, were arrested this week for alleged involvement in illegally distributing 1.5 million opioid pills and other controlled substances.
According to court documents, Kent Lyons, 52, of Houston; Roquel Turner, 47, of Manvel; and Traunce Alfred, 43, of Baytown, are charged with illegally distributing controlled substances, including oxycodone and hydrocodone.
From August 2017 until late 2022, Lyons and Turner allegedly operated pill-mill pharmacies as fronts to obtain opioids in their highest-strength immediate-release pill form. Prosecutors say they sold the drugs on the black market – without the involvement of patients, prescriptions, or doctors – to drug traffickers.
Federal investigators say Lyons and Turner allegedly concealed the drug proceeds using numerous bank accounts and real estate transactions.
According to court documents, starting around December 2020, Dwain Ross, 52, and Delores Mackey-Ross, 43, both of Pearland, along with licensed pharmacist Ann Nguyen, 30, of Stafford, allegedly used pharmacies to illegally distribute and dispense nearly half a million pills of oxycodone and hydrocodone.
Prosecutors claim Dwain Ross and Mackey-Ross, along with David Ross, 53, of Houston; Kevin Peterson, 56, of Pearland; and Eleanor Marsh, 56, of Fulshear, ordered the opioid potentiators alprazolam, carisoprodol, promethazine with codeine – which reportedly enhances the high from opioids – then they are accused of illegally distributing them in bulk.
Dwain Ross and Mackey-Ross allegedly used numerous bank accounts and real estate transactions to conceal their profits.
Lyons, Turner, Alfred, Dwain Ross, Mackey-Ross, and Nguyen are each charged with the illegal distribution of Schedule II opioids.
Dwain Ross, Mackey-Ross, David Ross, Peterson, and Marsh are each charged with the illegal distribution of Schedule IV drugs.
Lyons, Turner, Dwain Ross, and Mackey-Ross are also charged with money laundering crimes.
If convicted, Lyons, Turner, Alfred, Dwain Ross, Mackey-Ross, and Nguyen face up to 20 years on the top counts.
David Ross and Peterson each face up to five years.
Marsh faces up to 10 years if convicted.
The pharmacies alleged in the indictments to have been controlled by the defendants’ drug trafficking organizations are K Med Pharmacy, Nex Gen Pharmacy, TX United Pharmacy, Power Center Pharmacy #2, DR Pharmacy, and Nu Care Pharmacy.
Several other pharmacies, including P&A Pharmacy and Pearland Holistic Pharmacy, voluntarily surrendered their DEA Registration numbers, which a pharmacy needs to legally purchase pharmaceutical opioids and other controlled substances.