DETROIT – A Detroit doctor and two others have been charged with conspiracy to illegally distribute prescription drugs, U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider announced today.
Charged in the indictment are:
- Otis Leon Crawford, 80, of Detroit
- Debbie Ann Taylor, 37, of Detroit
- Earnie Ronnie-Jaew Taylor, 49, of River Rouge
Here's some background information on the case from the U.S. Attorney's Office:
The indictment alleges that in July of 2016, Dr. Crawford and Debbie Ann Taylor opened a medical clinic called Doctors Creative Care, located at 16125 Mack Avenue in Detroit. Dr. Crawford was the only doctor associated with the clinic and Debbie Ann Taylor was the office manager.
Debbie Taylor scheduled appointments, collected payments, and accompanied patients into the examination room with Dr. Crawford. Although she had no medical license or training, she recommended that particular patients be prescribed particular controlled substances, in particular dosage units.
With little or no medical examination, Dr. Crawford wrote and signed prescriptions for various opioids, as well as other drugs with substantial street value, such as Xanax, Soma, Valium
and Promethazine/codeine cough syrup.
It is further alleged that Debbie Taylor’s brother, Earnie Ronnie-Jaew Taylor, recruited fake patients from his neighborhood in River Rouge who would visit Dr. Crawford and receive unnecessary prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances.
Once the prescriptions were filled, Earnie Taylor took possession of the controlled substances for future illegal distribution. According to the Indictment, the top ten prescribed controlled substances prescribed by Dr. Crawford, from June 2015 to date, had a conservative street value in excess of $2,556,550.