Texas Pharmacist Sentenced to 14 Years Prison for Opioid Distribution

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the sentencing of Texas pharmacist Sokari “Momma” Bobmanuel, following her conviction by a federal jury trial in June 2023. Bobmanuel was convicted on one count of conspiracy to unlawfully distribute and dispense controlled substances, and one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises. She faced a maximum penalty of 20 years for each count.  

Bobmanual was sentenced at the end of October to 14 years in prison. According to the DOJ, from May 2018 to August 2019, Bobmanual was the owner and pharmacist in charge of Cornerstone Rx Pharmacy, which illegally distributed almost 160,000 opioid pills, including oxycodone and hydrocodone. The pharmacist worked with health care practitioners from 2 Houston-area pill-mill clinics to fill prescriptions for individuals who had no legitimate purpose for the medication and were in turn selling the pills on the illegal market. The pharmacist charged hugely inflated prices for the pills—as much as $1200 for a single oxycodone prescription. Bobmanual racked in over $1 million from the illegal scheme.  

Her coconspirator, the owner of the 2 clinics, pled guilty to conspiracy to unlawfully distribute and dispense controlled substances, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The DOJ’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force, operating since March 2007, has charged more than 5000 defendants who collectively billed federal health care programs and private insurance companies close to $28 billion.