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Clackamas chiropractor sentenced to federal prison for distributing opioids that led to overdose death

Oregonian - 8/30/2021

A Clackamas chiropractor was sentenced to more than four years in prison Monday for distributing fraudulently obtained oxycodone pills that led to the death of a 26-year-old woman.

Mark Steven Gardner, 33, was sentenced to 50 months in federal prison with three years of supervised release.

In November 2015, the former chiropractor stole a prescription pad from a doctor in his Portland office building to forge fraudulent oxycodone prescriptions under the doctor’s name, federal prosecutors said.

Recipients were instructed to fill the prescriptions when the doctor’s office was closed so Gardner could go into the office and answer the phone to verify the authenticity of the prescriptions when contacted by pharmacies, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon.

Over the course of four months, Gardner forged 48 prescriptions for 25 different recipients, who would typically give him half the pills they received, according to prosecutors. His forgeries led to the dispersal of 2,352 30-milligram oxycodone pills.

In January 2016, Gardner wrote a prescription for 90 30-milligram pills of oxycodone for a friend, Starlin Swan, which she filled the same day. The next day, he called 911 to report finding Swan unresponsive. Paramedics found her dead and an autopsy and toxicology report showed Swan died of an oxycodone overdose, according to prosecutors.

Gardner was indicted in May 2019 by a federal grand jury for distribution of oxycodone resulting in death, distribution of oxycodone and acquiring a controlled substance by fraud. He pleaded guilty in April to unlawful distribution of oxycodone.

“The opioid epidemic has cost more than 500,000 American lives,” said Scott Erik Asphaug, acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, in a statement. “This prosecution represents our office’s firm commitment to hold those accountable who unlawfully distribute controlled substances that results in death.”

Jaimie Ding

jding@oregonian.com; 503-221-4395; @j_dingdingding

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