Charleston , Kanawha County , West Virginia

A former West Virginia pharmacist was sentenced on Thursday to six months in federal prison, along with one year of supervised release and a $5,000 fine.

James P. Wooley, 77, of Louisa, Ky., was sentenced for conspiracy to acquire or obtain controlled substances by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception and subterfuge, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin's Office.

Wooley previously pleaded guilty in February. Wooley was the owner and operator of Stronsnider Drug Store Inc., which conducted its business operations as SAV-RITE Pharmacy in two locations near Kermit in Mingo County.

Wooley’s conviction stems from a multi-year federal investigation of Justice Medical Clinic, a Mingo County pill mill that has been shut down as a result of the probe.

An investigation revealed that from June 2006 through September 2006, Wooley and other licensed pharmacists under his direction illegally dispensed controlled substances to patients from Justice Medical Clinic, located in Kermit. Wooley admitted that he knew that the prescriptions that were issued to various patients at the time were not valid. The prescriptions that the defendant and his employees dispensed were not valid because the controlled substances were distributed without a doctor’s written approval, the release said.

In addition, at the time the controlled substances were distributed by the defendant and his employees, Justice Medical Clinic was closed for failing to obtain a certificate of need from the West Virginia State Health Care Authority.

Wooley admitted that during the scheme, he issued numerous illegal prescriptions using a registered physician’s Drug Enforcement Administration number between June and September 2006 without the physician’s consent.

Several individuals have been sentenced to prison terms in connection with a multi-year law enforcement investigation of Justice Medical. Cameron Justice, former owner and president of Justice Medical was sentenced in August 2010 to 2 ½ years in federal prison for conspiring to misuse a DEA registration number to distribute prescription painkillers and Medicare fraud.

In May 2010, Dr. John T. Tiano was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, along with three years of supervised release for aiding and abetting health care fraud. Also, in August 2010, Dr. Augusto T. Abad was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison, along with three years of supervised release for aiding and abetting health care fraud.

Wooley also has paid a $500,000 fine in a related civil case for Medicare and Medicaid fraud.

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