Two doctors who both operated medical offices in Lynwood pleaded not guilty today to federal charges alleging they sold prescriptions for powerful drugs to gang members suspected of using cash gleaned from residential burglaries committed across Southern California.
Sonny Oparah, 75, and Edward Ridgill, 64, were ordered to separately stand trial on Nov. 1 in Los Angeles federal court, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The physicians surrendered to federal authorities last month following raids in South Los Angeles that resulted in the arrests of more than a dozen suspected gang members allegedly involved in the burglary ring.
The arrests of Oparah and Ridgill occurred jointly with a sweep targeting the East Coast Crips street gang — part of a multi-year investigation dubbed “Operation Money Bags.”
Prosecutors allege the probe uncovered evidence that the doctors served as key suppliers of powerful painkillers used to fashion “purple drank,” a so- called party drink made from promethazine with codeine cough syrup, which is mixed with Sprite or Mountain Dew.
Oparah, of Long Beach, wrote nearly 13,000 prescriptions from July 2014 to July 2015, and Ventura resident Ridgill issued more than 21,000 such prescriptions from July 2011 to July 2014, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.
A 14-count indictment charges Oparah with illegal distribution of codeine, alprazolam — generic for the anti-anxiety medication Xanax — and promethazine with codeine. If convicted, he faces up to 51 years behind bars, prosecutors said.
Ridgill is charged in a 26-count indictment alleging the illegal distribution of hydrocodone, alprazolam and carisoprodol — a muscle relaxer commonly known as Soma. If convicted of all charges, he faces a maximum possible sentence of 239 years in prison.
Both doctors are free on bond, and have been ordered not to write any prescriptions.
The suspected gang members are charged in state court with residential burglaries and attempted break-ins at homes in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Ventura counties, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
