kC man pleads guilty to conspiring with physician
in drug-trafficking conspiracy
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Kansas City, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to paying a doctor for illegal prescriptions as part of a conspiracy to distribute oxycodone.
Marlus Mays, 31, of Kansas City, pleaded guilty to the charge contained in a Jan. 26, 2011, federal indictment.
By pleading guilty today, Mays admitted that he participated in a conspiracy to distribute oxycodone from July 2006 through January 2010. Mays obtained OxyContin and oxycodone as a result of receiving illegal prescriptions from physician Bruce Layne Baker, 54, of Independence. Mays would either pay Baker $100 for each prescription or give him some of the pills from the prescriptions as payment.
Baker pleaded guilty on Jan. 27, 2011, to his role in the conspiracy and to health care fraud and awaits sentencing. Baker must forfeit to the government $1,166,781, which represents the proceeds obtained as a result of the drug-trafficking conspiracy and health care fraud. Baker must also relinquish his Missouri and Kansas medical licenses.
Baker met Mays at a bar named Blonde in early 2008. At Mays’ request, Baker wrote an OxyContin prescription for Mays’ sister without ever examining her. Mays then began providing Baker with names for additional prescriptions, which Baker likewise wrote without conducting medical examinations. Mays also obtained a number of prescriptions in his own name. Mays or others filled the prescriptions then Mays distributed the pills.
Today’s plea agreement cites two illegal drug transactions between Mays and a confidential informant. In one transactions, which was made while Mays’ children were present, the confidential informant purchased 90 tablets of OxyContin from Mays for $3,200.
Under federal statutes, Mays is subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $1 million. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Gregg R. Coonrod and Assistant U.S. Attorney Cindi Woolery. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General, and the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.
