First Drug Industry Executive Found Guilty of Criminal Charges in Opioid Crisis

In the first case in which a drug company executive faced criminal charges for their role in the opioid epidemic, the former CEO of Rochester Drug Co-operative has been convicted of routing opioids to “bad pharmacies” and “dirty doctors.”

This week, after two days of deliberations, a federal jury in the Southern District of New York found Laurence Doud guilty of conspiring to distribute illegal narcotics and to defraud the U.S.

For the charge of conspiring to distribute controlled substances, he could face life in prison. Doud is scheduled to be sentenced June 29.

In 2019, Rochester Drug Co-operative agreed to pay $20 million to settle criminal and civil charges regarding its opioid sales. It filed for bankruptcy a year later.