After Pleading Guilty In Pill Mill Case, Arlington Doctor Clinton Battle Sentenced To 12 Years
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - An Arlington doctor has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for fraud and drug crimes.
During the summer of 2021, a jury convicted physician Clinton Battle of one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and one count of distribution of a controlled substance. In a separate proceeding later, he also pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
In addition to the federal time he has to serve, Battle was ordered to pay more than $375,000 in restitution.
During the trial prosecutors argued that Battle routinely gave out prescriptions for controlled substances – including hydrocodone, alprazolam, and acetaminophen with codeine – outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose. At times, he gave prescriptions to people without conducting a medical exam, sometimes telling office staff to issue the prescriptions for whichever drug the patient wanted.
The now 69-year-old doctor also issued prescriptions for friends or family members with whom he had no physician-patient relationship.
"This is a case of the abuse of trust and position," said DEA Special Agent in Charge Eduardo A. Chávez. "Dr. Battle and his co-conspirators used their authority to push pills into our neighborhoods disregarding the inherent harm they cause."
At trial, one of Battle's former employees testified that she, her husband, and Battle agreed that the doctor would provide the employee's husband with illegal controlled substance prescriptions in exchange for cocaine.
In addition to cocaine, the evidence also showed that Battle would receive money in the form of fees paid by "patients" of $200 for an initial visit and $80 for return visits in exchange for controlled substance prescriptions.
Battle also allowed his nurse practitioner, Donna Green, to use his DEA registration number and medical credentials to issue prescriptions for controlled substances, despite knowing that Green was not legally authorized to do so.
Federal officials say the conspiracy went on for five years and that Battle issued more than 50,000 controlled substance prescriptions -- 17,000 of which were for the opioid hydrocodone.
