The head of an Oxycodone distribution ring in North Georgia is going to federal prison for 21 years, a federal judge ruled Friday.
John Gregory Alvarez was convicted on narcotics and money laundering charges in a drug trafficking operation that distributed the prescription pill with the help of doctors in Florida.
“These pills are highly addictive and detrimental to the human body when abused,” said John S. Comer, acting special agent in charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration. “People who traffic these pills are drug dealers in every sense of the term and should be dealt with as other drug dealers.”
The investigation revealed that Alvarez headed a 13-member conspiracy that distributed Oxycodone and laundered the money they brought in. He would visit doctors in Florida or fund the trips of others to make arrangements to get the drug.
“Members of the organization would fill prescriptions for Oxycodone, and then transport the pills back to the Northwest Georgia area. There, the pills would be sold to other members of the conspiracy who would then distribute them on the street,” according to a release by U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.
Yates said the fatal overdose rates of Oxycodone in Georgia now exceed those of cocaine and heroin. “This tragedy is more pronounced in the Northwest Georgia area, where we have seen an a significant percentage of those Oxycodone overdose deaths,” she said.
The pills also were distributed in Tennessee, West Virginia and Kentucky.
Alvarez pleaded guilty to the charges on Aug. 5. In addition to 21 years and 10 months in prison, he received 6 years of supervised release.
About the Author
