A Brandon doctor has been been found guilty of prescribing thousands of Oxycodone pills.
On Thursday, a jury found Ronald John Heromin, 58, guilty of conspiracy to distribute and dispense Oxycodone and Alprazolam, not for legitimate medical purposes, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Heromin faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
He also faces forfeiture of his medical license, his DEA registration and money seized during the federal investigation.
According to prosecutors, Heromin was the prescribing physician at several pain management clinics in the Bay area and Miami between late 2009 and October 2011.
During that time, Heromin issued thousands of prescriptions for very large doses of Oxycontin, Oxycodone and Alprazolam, to drug addicts and members of doctor shopping organizations, authorities said.
Some "patients" often traveled hundreds of miles from as far away as Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee to obtain the prescriptions.
According to officials, more than 500,000 Oxycodone pills and 230,000 Alprazolam pills, prescribed by Heromin during that time, were filled at a single pharmacy (VIP Pharmacy) on Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard in Tampa.
Owners and operators of the Tampa Bay Wellness Centre and the VIP Pharmacy have previously been convicted of federal conspiracy and money laundering charges.
Heromin is scheduled to be sentenced July 24.