Former Bridgeport Mayor Mario Blount pleaded guilty today to a trio of felony drug charges in front of Judge Irene Keeley in United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia in Clarksburg. As for what he will face as punishment, it will be determined at his sentencing that Keeley said will take place in roughly three months – she suggested it will likely be in January of 2015.

 

Blount, a pharmacist, entered guilty pleas today to the felony offenses of “Conspiracy to Distribute Schedule II Controlled Substances”, “Distribution of Oxymorphone”, and “False or Fraudulent Material Omissions.”  Blount and co-defendants Angela and April Davis were indicted and arrested on June 3. Blount’s arrest came at his place of employment in Weston at that time. Shortly after he was arrested, Blount, 51, pled not guilty at his arraignment. That officially changed today.

 

The three counts have a combined maximum jail sentence of 44 years, fines of up to $2.5 million and three years of supervised release (See list below for individual breakdown). However, the maximum on any of the counts is 20 years. As part of the plea, the government and Blount seek to have the terms run concurrently, which means at the same time. That means that if Keeley agrees with the agreement between the government and Blount, the most time he could serve is 20 years.

 

Keeley has the authority to disagree with that and go up to as many as 44 years if she believes that is the proper sentence. As for going 20 years if Keeley agrees with a concurrent sentence, there are stipulations relating to past criminal history and other matters that could result in the sentence being less than 10 years. Again, that will all be determined by Keeley in January. And if the sentencing does not go in a manner hoped for by Blount, he cannot withdraw his guilty plea and seek a trial by jury.

 

Between now and the sentencing, a pre-sentencing investigation report will be provided to both the government and Blount. The report will provide recommendations or back those of the plea agreement. Both sides can object to items made in the report and once all issues are settled, the final report will be forwarded to Keeley. Keeley will review the report in helping shape her decision.

 

It was also announced that as part of the agreement that Blount would relinquish his West Virginia Board of Pharmacy license. It was also agreed that he would not re-apply for the license after his sentence is complete.

 

After the hearing Blount was released. There was no objection by the government or the probation office to his release until his sentencing date.

 

Blount and the Davis women were involved in the illegal dispensing of more than 11,000 oxycodone and oxymorphone pills for over the course of three years. The pills were dispensed for non-medical reasons.

 

Blount’s plea came just before 1 p.m. And it came after the lone witness – the commander of the Greater Harrison County Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force who is a member of the Bridgeport Police Department – took the stand for the plaintiff, which in this case was the United States Government. The commander was questioned by U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld II. Blount’s attorney, William Wilmoth, did not ask the commander any questions.

 

The commander said Blount came under the microscope after the June 23 raid on the office of Bridgeport physician Dr. Edita Milan, who ran a opioid dependency clinic located on Main Street. Milan is currently under federal indictment for charges that are, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office, similar to those Blount pleaded to in court. Testimony today said that a significant number of prescriptions from Milan’s office were filled by Blount when he was operating as the pharmacist in charge at Best Care Pharmacy, also located on Main Street and just a few blocks away.

 

The discovery of the records with prescriptions being filled at Best Care led to an October, 2013 raid. Law enforcement completed the raids after obtaining search warrants for the Best Care in Bridgeport as well as pharmacy locations in Belington and Lumberport.

 

The commander testified that Angela Davis, and sometimes April, would appear at Best Care in Bridgeport “a couple of times a week” or “weekly.” When they appeared, the commander said they would meet with Blount in a counseling room. The relationship between Blount and Angela Davis, the commander said, was that of lifelong friends.

 

“They knew each other since childhood and she approached him about extra pills for her and her daughter,” said the commander on how it began.

 

During the investigation, the commander said staff at Best Care was alarmed at the amount of pills being prescribed. He said Angela Davis would often “receive pills without corresponding prescriptions.” He said one of the pharmacy technicians advised Blount of their concern with what was taking place with the pill counts that are required through audits being off on a regular basis.

 

“(The technician) had a real problem with the pills being in the negative,” said the commander.

 

One of the biggest incidents involved a prescription Angela Davis brought to the pharmacy in the summer of 2013. The prescription was brought in and under the name of her late son, James Matthew “Matt” Davis, and called for a prescription of 720 pills. The commander said the amount not only was alarming, but the computer system “red flagged” the amount as “too many” and a technician was also concerned with the name the prescription was under. However, the commander said Blount overrode the concern.

 

While there were records of the 720 pill prescription being filled at Best Care, there was no record of it with the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy, which is required by law. Further complicating the issue was that the commander said Angela Davis has told him that Blount was aware that her son Matt had passed away several years prior.

 

Other prescriptions were forged from a doctor in Georgia. The doctor was an emergency room doctor who, according to Ihlenfeld, basically had his identity stolen and had nothing to do with the case other than what the commander testified to as providing one initial – and legitimate -  prescription.

 

There were other issues the commander testified to in front of Keeley and under the questioning of Ihlenfeld. Included were comments that many pills were provided without a prescription and often pills were brought in by  Angela Davis and given to Blount in order to help make up for the negative pill counts.

 

Prior to pleading guilty, Keeley asked Blount if he disputed anything that the commander had testified to. Blount told her he did not.

 

The hearing capped off a week that saw Blount resign as Bridgeport’s mayor on Monday. Last Friday, Blount also filed for personal bankruptcy.

 

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John C. Parr with assistance from Ihlenfeld.

 

“Today was an important day because whenever you have a medical professional who is not playing by the rules it can wreak havoc on a community; on Bridgeport, Harrison County and beyond,” said Ihlenfeld. “This particular pharmacist, Mr. Blount, worked in different pharmacies throughout the region. These cases are more important than our normal drug prosecutions – not that those aren’t extremely important – but when you’re able to identify a corrupt medical professional like we did in this case, prosecute and convict the person, and cause them to surrender their license to practice as a pharmacist, which is part of this deal, it has a huge impact.

 

“In all likelihood, no one is going to take his place whereas with street level drug dealers someone is going to step into the shoes once that person has been convicted and taken off the street,” Ihlenfeld continued. “We hate that it happens and bang our heads against the wall when it happens as law enforcement officials, but with these type of cases, we don’t see that as much. It’s important that we pursue pharmacists, we pursue other medical professionals and you’ll continue to see these type of cases from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

 

Later this month, 51-year-old Angela Davis and her 23-year-old daughter April – both of Bridgeport – are set to enter guilty pleas. Their hearing is scheduled Sept. 23 in Clarksburg in front of U.S. Magistrate John S. Kaull. Milan is not pleading and will take her case to trial. Her trial is set for Nov. 5.

 

Click HERE for the original story on his arrest.