Florida Man Busted For $15 Million Pill Mill Ring

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Joel Shumrak, 66, of Boca Raton, Fla., wasarrested early last week by federal authorities for running a pill mill operation out of his South Florida pain clinic that supplied drug dealers in other states, including Kentucky.

"The amount of money from the pain clinic is, frankly, staggering," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Tantillo at a hearing in federal court. Prosecutors outlined Shumrak’s operation, which is alleged to have supplied up to 25 percent of all the oxycodone in Eastern Kentucky.

Shumrak is currently being held without bond in the Broward County jail and will soon be transferred to Kentucky for a federal indictment.

His lawyer, Bernard Cassidy, vehemently denied all charges and said that his client was nothing more than a businessman who should be allowed release on bond due to alleged ill health. But with over $15 million kept in offshore accounts, Shumrak was deemed a flight risk and a danger to his community.

"Joel was a licensed business owner and we intend to fight the charges," his attorney said.

Meanwhile, community organizers like Broward county resident and registered nurse, Janet Colbert, one of the founders of Stop the Organized Pill Pushers Now (STOPP Now), was guardedly optimistic about Shumrak’s arrest.

"I hope and pray they've got him this time," said Colbert. "I think the tide is turning and hopefully eventually we won't have this problem anymore."