May 23, 2020 By Michael Dorgan
A Queens doctor and his patient who allegedly used prisoner names as part of an illegal scheme to buy and sell oxycodone have been busted by the DEA.
Dr. Dalmacio Francisco, 75, of Jamaica and Astoria resident Michael Othman, 48, were arrested Wednesday for the racket which could see them each serve up to 20 years in jail.
Francisco, who operated practices in Woodside and Elmhurst, wrote out prescriptions for large quantities of oxycodone for Othman to collect over the past five years, according to the charges filed in federal court.
Francisco’s Woodside practice was located at 57-18 Woodside Av. and his Elmhurst office at 86-15 Queens Blvd.
The prescriptions were made out in Othman’s name and other individuals Othman had recruited as part of the scheme. Francisco also used the names of at least two prisoners to write up prescriptions for the drug, investigators said.
Othman, along with five other unnamed individuals, then used the doctor’s prescriptions to buy the painkillers at various pharmacies throughout Queens.
Francisco wrote out monthly prescriptions for 180 immediate-release oxycodone tablets. Each tablet was 30 milligrams in dosage, investigators said.
The 30mg tablet is the largest dose of immediate-release oxycodone available for sale in the United States and is in high demand by users and abusers of unlawfully obtained opioids, investigators said.
Investigators allege that the scheme continued throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Surveillance showed the pair repeatedly meeting at Francisco’s Woodside practice for Othman to pick up oxycodone subscriptions, investigators said.
Altogether, Othman is alleged to have picked up approximately 59 subscriptions from Francisco since April 2015.
Both men were charged with conspiring to distribute with intent, to distribute and possession with intent and to distribute oxycodone for illegal and non-medical purposes.
Francisco was released on a $250,000 bond and Othman was let go on a $50,000 bond.
Cindy Shebley (Unsplash under creative commons licence)
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15 Comments
Glad he got caught.
I agree with the comment from Nicole. What a greedy 75-year old dishonest doctor. How much money does he need for his age? Is he going to bury the money he made from doing something illegal? He is someone I met from a dance studio at Rego Park. He think who the hell he is. He expects people to look up to him just because he is a doctor. But he misuse his being a doctor to make money doing something illegal. Hope he pays for his greediness for life!
You DO know the bus was t boned into the buildings, RIGHT??? By a drunk driver.
Att:Ministry:
How dare you compare weed sales-persons to this dirtbag doctor? You have officially insulted the entire weed selling professionals
Like they pointed out–we’ve got drug dealers. Now that it’s partially legalized, our community can benefit from the sales of this medicine instead of organized crime.
Thanks Ministry! I knew you were a socialist.
People of Queens need their drugs and should not be discriminated against by a white supremacist system. White people in other communities enjoy easy access to their drugs, so should Queens and Bronx residents. They will be essential during a general strike. So this is not a joke.
Reply to Bus driver
Must be an old pic cos the Bagel place did open back in early March but not Caesars Pizza that still in repairs.
This is just great. How can these people sleep at night or look in the mirror. There are people real people that breathe and walk this earth that need those just to walk due to severe disabilities. This is why we suffer more than anyone could understand.
Exactly, you are now told oh sorry your in pain but no we cannot give you a prescription for pain medication even though you are truly in agonizing pain, 6 herniated discs, arthritis etc. just take some Tylenol because we let all the pharmaceutical companies make their money..
This Dr had no bedside manners at all. All he cared about was your insurance. I’m glad he’s caught!!!
Oh great. Thanks, Jerks, for making it worse for those of us who are legitimately in pain and truly need medication to function in our daily lives. You are the reason physicians don’t want to prescribe anything those truly in pain!!
Selfish, Selfish, SELFISH!!
A Dr. can no kk her write a prescription for a controlled substance for someone to pick up in the office. The prescription is sent directly to the pharmacy. I’m not def ending these two people in any way. I just don’t know how they still get away with this. My 82 year old mom with chronic and devinitating pain can’t even get an opioid analgesic anymore???
Exactly and you cannot pay cash in pharmacies anymore for any kind of controlled substance. But this is the reason why people in real pain, like your mom, cant be prescribed pain medication.
already a doctor and already 75 years old, how much money does he want and how many more years he thinks he have to spend those money. greed that’s what it is. doesn’t he know when he die the money cannot go with him
I thought a bus crashed though Bagels Plus last year. They must have fixed it just in time for the pandemic.
Drug dealer with a diploma on the wall. No better than the dirtbag selling weed outside school yards.