Arlington Doctor Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison in Oxycodone Conspiracy

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Derron McRae Simon, 45, of Arlington, Virginia, was sentenced today to 180 months in prison, followed by six years of supervised release for his role in an oxycodone conspiracy. 

Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Andrew G. McCabe, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema.

Simon, a medical doctor, pleaded guilty on December 18, 2014. In a statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, Simon admitted that during the course of the conspiracy, he wrote and sold numerous prescriptions for oxycodone and other controlled substances, and knew that these prescriptions were not for a legitimate medical purpose and were beyond the bounds of medical practice. Simon was responsible for the distribution of at least 11,000 oxycodone 30 mg pills.

According to the statement of facts filed with Simon’s plea agreement, beginning in February 2013 and continuing until around August of 2014, Simon and others conspired to distribute oxycodone throughout northern Virginia. Simon wrote and sold prescriptions for oxycodone and other controlled substances, despite knowing that the individuals in whose names the prescriptions were written were abusing and selling the drugs. Simon never met many of the people for whom he wrote oxycodone prescriptions, as these individuals were not Simon’s medical patients. Over the course of the conspiracy, one of Simon’s co-conspirators paid Simon approximately $500 to $1,000 per fraudulent oxycodone prescription. Simon also directed a co-conspirator to create fraudulent patient history forms and medical records to make it appear that these individuals were actually legitimate patients.

Simon’s medical license was previously suspended on November 24, 2008, for 90 days and he was placed on probation by the Virginia Board of Medicine at the conclusion of this temporary suspension.  Simon’s license to practice medicine was suspended again by the Virginia Board of Medicine on July 11, 2014. On July 28, 2014, Simon signed a consent order with the Virginia Board of Medicine and voluntarily and permanently surrendered his license to practice medicine and perform surgery in Virginia. The consent order states Simon will not be eligible for reinstatement of his license at any future date.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adam Ptashkin, Jennifer A. Clarke, and Jason M. Scheff are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:14-cr-300.