25-Year Prison Sentence for Pharmacist

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution secured a 25-year prison sentence for a pharmacist trafficking prescription drugs, including opioids. Ekaette Isemin owned and operated Care Point Pharmacy in Ormond Beach. According to a law enforcement investigation, Isemin filled prescriptions with minimal-to-no confirmation from the prescribing doctor.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “We secured a long prison sentence for a pharmacist responsible for flooding Florida streets with prescription painkillers and other controlled substances with minimal or sometimes no confirmation from the prescribing doctor. While she used her profession in an attempt to conceal her crimes, my Statewide Prosecutors proved to the court that her true work was that of a common drug dealer.”

According to the investigation, from December 2016 through March 2018, Isemin illegally filled prescriptions of various opioids. The Florida Department of Health suspended Isemin’s license in 2018, but the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration found the pharmacy continuing to run under the licensure suspension in 2019. The prescriptions being filled included alprazolam, diazepam, ketamine, testosterone and tramadol—many of which can be dangerous if used while not prescribed.

Last month, following guilty verdicts returned by a Volusia County jury, Attorney General Moody’s OSP secured convictions for Isemin on eight felony charges related to the trafficking of hydromorphone; four counts of 4-14 grams and four counts of 4-28 grams. The Honorable Judge Elizabeth A. Blackburn sentenced Isemin to 25 years in prison and a more than $150,000 fine.

A separate and additional plea trial is set on Feb. 21 for the sale and delivery of diazepam, ketamine and testosterone.

Attorney General Moody’s Statewide Prosecutor Nicole Pegues prosecuted this case.