‘Significant supplier.’ Doctor convicted in Kentucky drug case sentenced to 10 years

A Tennessee doctor convicted of contributing to drug abuse and addiction in Kentucky has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and fined $100,000.

John L. Stanton, 66, maintained he was innocent but a jury in federal court in London convicted him of conspiracy to illegally distribute pain pills and other drugs.

U.S. District Judge Robert E. Wier sentenced Stanton after a hearing Monday in federal court in London.

Stanton was medical director at Gateway Medical Associates, a pain clinic in Clarksville, Tennessee, from mid-2016 through 2020, according to court records.

Drug traffickers from southeastern Kentucky used the clinic as a source of supply, even though it was several hours away, because it was easy for people to get prescriptions there despite red flags such as failing drug tests, authorities charged.

Drug dealers from Clay and Knox counties admitted paying costs for people — often people addicted to drugs — to go to the clinic and then fill their prescriptions in Kentucky.

The dealers then got some or all the pills to sell, or the people who’d gone to the clinic sold the drugs and shared the proceeds with the dealers, according to court records.

James Maccarone, another physician, owned the clinic.

Defense attorneys argued that Stanton acted in good faith at the clinic, treating patients with genuine care and professionalism, and advocated for types of pain treatment other than drugs, such as physical therapy.

However, Maccarone undermined Stanton’s efforts to lower the amount of drugs prescribed to people and to dismiss patients whose tests indicated they could be abusing or diverting their drugs, defense attorneys said in a sentencing memorandum.

In letters to Wier, family members and friends described Stanton as a devoted family man and a skilled, compassionate physician.

Some said Maccarone took advantage of Stanton’s trusting nature and faith in others.

That explains how “a well-intentioned, intelligent, and experienced physician, orthopedic surgeon, and Army veteran was able to be deceived by a fellow physician,” Julia Doss, a nurse practitioner who worked with Stanton at another clinic, said in a letter.

But the prosecutor said under Stanton’s supervision, Gateway Medical Associates (GMA) routinely gave people prescriptions for powerful painkillers whom showed signs of abusing drugs or diverting the to sell illegally.

Witnesses said Stanton and Maccarone consistently wrote prescriptions to people who failed drug screening tests or didn’t take part in pill counts, which is a method to make sure people are taking their medication correctly.

The clinic padded profits by allowing patients to pay a $150 fee in lieu of taking part in pill counts, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Smith said in a sentencing memorandum.

Stanton often wrote prescriptions after only cursory visits with patients and “without any meaningful medical decision-making to patients who were clearly abusing the drugs,” Smith wrote.

“Stanton abandoned his responsibility as a physician and profited from GMA’s illicit operations for several years,” Smith said in the memo. “In doing so, he served as a significant supplier for diverted medications (in Eastern Kentucky) and fostered the addictions of patients who were abusing heroin, fentanyl, and other dangerous drugs while under his supposed care.”

Stanton was paid $318,300 from the clinic’s illicit operations, the prosecutor said.

Maccarone pleaded guilty. Wier sentenced him to seven years in prison, along with forfeiting the clinic property and $204,186 to the government and paying $1.3 million.

Terry Prince, a Knox County man who admitted getting drugs from the clinic to sell, was sentenced to five years and eight months. Jeffrey Ghent, a Clay County drug dealer, was sentenced to five years.

The case was related to charges against Calvin Manis, a pharmacist and longtime city council member in Barbourville who admitted filling prescriptions he knew would be sold illegally.

Manis is serving a sentence of eight years and four months in prison.