Doctor Pleads Guilty to Illegal Drug Distribution

PHILADELPHIA—Lewis Meyer Jacobs, 79, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute, and actual distribution of frequently abused controlled substances, including Percocet and OxyContin, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. Jacobs admitted that he operated his medical practice as a pill mill, between at least 2005 and May 2010, during which he sold sham prescriptions to drug dealers and addicts, paid a drug-dealing office employee in prescriptions, and also issued prescriptions to a drug-dealing paramour. He would typically charge about $50 in cash per sham prescription. Scores of customers would visit his office, often for as little as two minutes per visit. Over the years, Jacobs earned at least $1,261,080 in drug proceeds.

Jacobs will be sentenced December 8, 2011. He faces a statutory maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, a minimum of three years of supervised release, a fine of up to $2 million, a $200 special assessment, and forfeiture of at least $1,261,080.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Alexander T.H. Nguyen and Andrea G. Foulkes.