California Man Convicted Of Running Prescription Opioids Distribution Ring

RENO, Nev. – A federal jury convicted a California man last Friday for his role in running a prescription opioids trafficking conspiracy, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Christopher Chiou for the District of Nevada and Special Agent in Charge Aaron C. Rouse for the FBI.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, from January 2018 to May 2019, Myron Motley, 57, of Richmond, California, conspired with others to possess and distribute Oxycodone and Hydrocodone, both Schedule II controlled substances. As part of the conspiracy, Motley enlisted co-defendant Dr. Eric Math to write fraudulent prescriptions for Oxycodone and Hydrocodone to Motley and co-conspirators Joseph Jeannette, Michael Kwoka, Ivy Elliott, and Alesia Sampson. The co-conspirators would then fill the prescriptions at local pharmacies and give some of the pills to Motley, so that he could sell them to other co-conspirators, including Michael Slater.

Motley was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute Oxycodone and Hydrocodone, four counts of distribution of Oxycodone, and one count of distribution of Hydrocodone. U.S. District Judge Larry R. Hicks presided over the jury trial. A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for August 23, 2021.

Motley faces a statutory mandatory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.

Motley was charged along with co-conspirators Math, Kwoka, Slater, Elliott, and Sampson, who have pleaded guilty and await sentencing. Co-conspirator Jeannette awaits a jury trial.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

This case was a joint investigation conducted by the FBI; the Reno Police Department; Nevada Highway Patrol; the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services Division of Welfare and Social Services; the Office of the Nevada Attorney General; the Carson City Sheriff’s Office; the Nevada Department of Corrections; the Nevada Gaming Control Board; the Sparks Police Department; the University of Nevada-Reno Police Department; and IRS Criminal Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Megan Rachow and Peter Levitt.

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