Former Wichita doctor re-sentenced for ‘pill mill’ operation

Daniel Fair
·2 min read

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A former doctor in the Wichita area who had previously been sentenced to life in prison was sentenced Friday after some of the charges against him were vacated by the Supreme Court.

The United States Department of Justice said in a news release Steven Henson, 63, was sentenced to 120 months in prison after pleading guilty to:

  • Two counts of conspiracy to dispense, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute

  • controlled substances,

  • Eight counts of dispensing and aiding and abetting with possession with intent to distribute
    controlled substances,

  • Five counts of dispensing controlled substances

  • Six counts of money laundering

Henson had previously been convicted by a jury of one count of making a false writing and one count of attempting to obstruct a court order, which were in relation to drug offenses, the DOJ said.

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Court documents show Henson was initially convicted by a jury in Oct. 2018 of 24 counts. He appealed, and the Supreme Court vacated all but two of those counts and sent it back to district court.

In February, court documents show Henson agreed to a plea deal on the above charges.

The news release said Henson admitted to seeing illegitimate pain patients at his clinic in Wichita and writing them prescriptions for oxycodone, methadone, and alprazolam in exchange for cash between July 2014 and Aug. 2015.

“He would typically meet his co-conspirator customers during non-business hours without staff present and charge $300 for the visit,” the news release said. “These co-conspirator customers told Henson which controlled substances they wanted, and he would oblige with a prescription without conducting examinations, obtaining medical history, or determining if the requested medication was needed. Henson would often prescribe the highest possible strengths and high pill counts.”

Those prescriptions were sent to a pharmacy then owned and operated by Ebube Otuonye, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Oct. 2019 for his role in the scheme.

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