Judge sentences woman in pain-clinic operation

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

A judge on Tuesday sentenced a woman to five years in prison for her role at a southern Ohio pill mill linked to a dozen overdose deaths, while denying a motion by the woman’s mother to withdraw her guilty plea in the same case.

Denise Huffman and her daughter, Alice Huffman, each pleaded guilty last year to one count of operating Tri-State Health Care and Pain Management as a place whose primary purpose was the illegal distribution of prescription drugs.

U.S. District Court Judge Sandra Beckwith in Cincinnati sentenced Alice Huffman to 60 months in prison and ordered her to report to federal prison officials in about two months to begin her sentence.

After denying Denise Huffman’s request to withdraw her guilty plea, Beckwith ordered a psychiatric evaluation.