Kentucky pharmacist gets prison over stealing pills his wife traded for meth
A former Kentucky pharmacist who took part in stealing pain pills from his business that his wife traded for illegal drugs such as methamphetamine has been sentenced to three years in prison.
Joseph Patrick Huff, 46, pleaded guilty in the case to theft of medical products, conspiracy to illegally distribute drugs, health care fraud, aggravated identity theft and filing a false report.
His wife, Jenifer Huff, 46, pleaded guilty to theft of medical products, conspiracy to distribute drugs and health care fraud and was sentenced to two years in prison.
Huff operated Franklin Pharmacy, in Simpson County, but has lost his license and moved out of state, according to the court record.
Between May 2020 and January 2023, Huff and his wife took oxycodone and hydrocodone from the pharmacy, which she often sold or traded to get cocaine, meth and marijuana, according to his plea.
Huff also admitted he provided a generic drug to customers but billed insurance for the brand name of the drug so he could get more money; billed insurance for a blood thinner for one patient that the patient didn’t receive; billed Medicaid for medication for his wife even though she didn’t have a prescription; used the identification of another provider; and filed a false police report of a robbery and theft at the pharmacy.
The report was intended to hide the illegal drug distribution from the pharmacy, according to a sentencing memorandum from Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph R. Ansari.
Joseph Huff’s attorney, B. Alan Simpson, said in a sentencing memo that Huff’s life of service as a diligent, compassionate pharmacist and father of four unraveled after his wife became addicted to drugs.
Huff tried to get his wife to break off contact with people who were influencing her, but her addiction “consumed their home and ultimately dragged Patrick down with it” as he tried to support his wife, Simpson said in the memo.
“Patrick is not a habitual offender. He is a man who made poor decisions while trying to hold his family together,” the memo said, suggesting a sentence of probation, community service or home incarceration for Huff.
The prosecutor argued for a prison sentence for Huff, saying he and his wife diverted thousands of doses of drugs from the pharmacy that ended up in rural communities.
“The theft and sale of controlled substances created an extreme danger to the public,” Ansari wrote. “This all occurred in the backdrop of an opioid epidemic raging across America.”
Chief U.S. District Judge Greg N. Stivers sentenced Huff and his wife May 1 in federal court in Bowling Green.
The case was investigated by the Bowling Green/Warren County Drug Task Force, Kentucky State Police, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services Office of Inspector General.
