Houston clinic and Conroe pharmacy owners indicted in pill mill case
Houston and Conroe clinics were tied to more than 3.4 million pill prescriptions, prosecutors said, as a pharmacist and two managers were indicted in federal court.
Federal prosecutors in Houston indicted the owners of two city clinics and a Conroe pharmacy in a pill mill case involving more than 3.4 million improperly prescribed pills. The June 18 indictment in the Southern District of Texas accused Tonya Crowder, Marlene Durham and Demetrius Onuaguluchi of taking part in a cash-driven scheme that moved oxycodone, hydrocodone and carisoprodol through Houston-area facilities.
Onuaguluchi is the owner and pharmacist-in-charge of Wellwise Pharmacy, Inc., at 2519 North Frazier Street, Suite 3200, in Conroe. Crowder and Durham managed the two clinics, while Onuaguluchi dispensed more than 136,000 pills based on the clinic prescriptions. The indictment also included a forfeiture notice for more than $80,000 in cash seized from one clinic and one residence, along with a property tied to the alleged drug diversion.
DEA Administrator Terry Cole addressed the case at a press conference tied to the Justice Department’s 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown. Cole said, “Americans should never have to wonder whether a prescription was written because it was needed or because someone saw a chance to profit.” Cole also called healthcare fraud a public safety threat and a direct threat to trust in the healthcare system.
The broader takedown included 18 criminal and civil cases and 928 administrative actions. The Southern District of Texas added nine charged cases on June 23, and the overall takedown involved more than $1 billion in alleged fraud across the Houston area.
In October 2024, federal prosecutors alleged distributors funneled nearly 70 million opioid pills and more than 30 million doses of other commonly abused prescription drugs to alleged Houston-area pill mill pharmacies, with an estimated black-market value of $1.3 billion.
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