Doctor, office manager plead guilty in painkiller scheme

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MILWAUKEE (AP) — A doctor and an office manager at a Wauwatosa clinic have pleaded guilty to handing out large doses of painkillers to people who paid for them in cash.

The Journal Sentinel reports the medical doctor Steven Kotsonis, 38, of Menomonee Falls pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to one count of unlawfully distributing oxycodone.

Last month, his office manager, Susan Moyer, 57, of Milwaukee, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy with intent to distribute the drug and one count of distributing it.

Authorities say Kotsonis and Moyer accepted only cash for huge prescriptions of oxycodone and charged between $200 and $350 for each prescription.

Court records show Kotsonis illegally provided the drugs to patients from the Compassionate Care Clinic in Wauwatosa in 2012 and 2013. Kotsonis owned the clinic, which is closed.

Moyer, who is not a licensed medical professional, typically filled out the prescriptions and had Kotsonis sign them without him ever seeing the patients. Prosecutors say she called herself the “Oxy Czar.”

Both face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million. Their sentencing hearings are scheduled for March.