$100K bond set for pharmacist charged in prescription scheme

By Peter H. Milliken

The pharmacist is accused of illegally filling more than 10,000 prescriptions.

YOUNGSTOWN — A pharmacist has pleaded innocent to 24 counts of sale of dangerous drugs in an alleged long-distance Internet prescription scheme.

On Tuesday, Gary A. Evankovich, 53, of Devonshire Drive, Boardman, appeared with his lawyer, Michael J. McGee, at his arraignment before Magistrate Timothy G. Welsh of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Welsh set bond at $100,000 at the request of J. Michael Thompson, assistant county prosecutor, and Evankovich was led away in handcuffs by deputies after the arraignment.

A bail bondsman posted bond for Evankovich on Tuesday afternoon, and Evankovich was released from the county jail later in the day.

“It is alleged that this defendant both has an ownership interest in a number of local businesses and is alleged to have made a significant amount of cash income from these transactions,” Thompson said before requesting the high bond. Thompson did not specify how much money Evankovich is alleged to have made from the illegal transactions.

McGee argued unsuccessfully for a $10,000 bond, saying his client came to court on a summons and without being arrested, and has assets and business interests in this community.

“Mr. Evankovich is a well-respected pharmacist in the area. ... He is not a flight risk whatsoever,” McGee said, adding that Evankovich is not charged with any violent crime.

Citing the number and seriousness of the charges, the magistrate then set the bond at the level requested by the prosecutor.

In the indictment, Evankovich, an owner of North Lima and Bel-Park pharmacies, is accused of illegally filling more than 10,000 prescriptions totaling more than 1 million doses.

Evankovich, who was first licensed as an Ohio pharmacist in 1978, is charged with the reckless retail sale of drugs in a broad range of categories between October 2005 and June 2006. Each count is a fourth-degree felony, potentially carrying six to 18 months in prison upon conviction.

The illegal drug orders are alleged to have originated via the Internet in the Caribbean, and the prescriptions were written by a New York physician and sent to Evankovich via the Internet, said Atty. Robert E. Bush Jr., chief of the criminal division of the county prosecutor’s office.

Ohio law forbids physicians from prescribing drugs for patients they haven’t seen face-to-face, Bush said. Evankovich illegally filled prescriptions in cases where he knew or should have known that the physician didn’t see the patient for whom the drugs were being prescribed, Bush said.

The charges were brought after a lengthy investigation by the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy.

Among the drugs Evankovich is charged with dispensing illegally in large quantities are Fioricet, a strong narcotic pain reliever and relaxant; Tramadol, a narcoticlike pain reliever; and Soma, a muscle relaxer.

The case is assigned to Judge Maureen A. Sweeney, with pretrial hearings set for 1:30 p.m. Feb. 3 and Feb. 9, and the jury trial tentatively set for 10 a.m. April 13.