Floyd County pain clinic doctor is convicted on drug conspiracy charges

A doctor at a Floyd County pain clinic conspired to illegally distribute a large number of pain pills, a federal jury decided late Wednesday.

The jury convicted Stephen C. Arny of conspiring to distribute oxycodone, hyrdocodone and Xanax outside the course of ordinary medical practice, according to a court document.

Testimony showed Arny conspired to distribute 150,000 pills, according to U.S. Attorney Kerry B. Harvey's office.

Arny and another doctor, Emmanuel Galang Acosta, worked at a business called the Auto Accident and Healthcare Clinic at Auxier, according to court records.

The owners were Douglas Stapleton and his wife, Tina Stapleton.

Authorities charged that the place was a "pill mill" — a cash-based business where doctors wrote prescriptions for drug abusers with little effort to provide real examinations or treatment.

The case started when Ray Stapleton arrived drunk at a traffic checkpoint in Magoffin County in October 2012. Police found more than 6,000 pills and $1.3 million in his vehicle and house, according to court records.

A federal grand jury indicted the Stapletons and the two doctors on a charge of taking part in a drug conspiracy between July 2010 and June 2012.

The Stapletons pleaded guilty and forfeited the money to the government. The most serious charge against the couple and Arny carries a top sentence of 20 years.

Arny and Acosta denied the charges. Acosta has not been tried.

This story was originally published September 18, 2014 at 7:19 PM with the headline "Floyd County pain clinic doctor is convicted on drug conspiracy charges."