Source: United States Attorneys General
Headline: Physician Employees and Owners of Tennessee Pain Clinic Indicted for Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering
The indictment alleges the illegal drug trafficking resulted in a death
LONDON, Ky. – In a federal indictment unsealed yesterday, two owners of a Hixson, Tenn., pain clinic and two physicians working at the clinic have been charged with conspiring to illegally distribute prescription narcotics – including oxycodone and oxymorphone – in Eastern Kentucky. The indictment further alleges that their drug trafficking conspiracy resulted in a death. The clinic, the Tennessee Pain Institute (TPI), closed shortly after a search warrant was executed in May 2016.
The owners of TPI, Anwar Mithavayani, 54, and Pete Tyndale, 46, both of South Florida, are charged in the superseding indictment, along with two physicians working at the clinic: Timothy Gowder, 70, of Oak Ridge, Tenn. and Gary Moore, 66, of Ooltewah, Tenn. Gowder and Moore were initially charged in the case in May 2017. The indictment also charges the four with multiple counts of money laundering. The superseding indictment, returned by a federal grand jury on January 25, 2018 alleges that the defendants received more than $8 million as a result of their drug trafficking. Two others, James Bradley Combs, 40, of Woodbine, Ky., and Larry Karr, 73, of Keavy, Ky., have also been charged for their alleged roles in the offenses.
Robert M. Duncan, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Chris Evans, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration; Christopher Altemus, Acting Special Agent in Charge of IRS, Criminal Investigation Division; Andy Beshear, Kentucky Attorney General; and Richard W. Sanders, Commissioner of Kentucky State Police, jointly announced the charges.
The DEA, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office, and the Kentucky State Police conducted the investigation, with support from Appalachia HIDTA’s Diversion Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Rosenberg represents the United States in the case.
The trial is currently set for April 30. If convicted, Mithavayani, Tyndale, Gowder, and Moore face a minimum of 20 years in prison and a maximum of life imprisonment. However, any sentence following a conviction would come after the Court considers the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and relevant federal statutes.
Any indictment is an accusation only. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.