SAN FRANCISCO NEWS
October 2, 2012
Contact: DEA Public Affairs
Number: 415-436-7994
Orangevale Man Sentenced for Hydrocodone Distribution
OCT 02 (SACRAMENTO, Calif.)  - Brandon Savaloja, 27, of Orangevale, was sentenced today by United States District Judge John A. Mendez to one year and nine months in prison for conspiring to distribute hydrocodone, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Anthony D. Williams and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. Hydrocodone is an opiate pain reliever found in such common medications as Vicodin, Norco, and Lortab.
According to court documents, Savaloja conspired with Raymond Reyes, 29, of Lincoln, and others to distributehydrocodone in Sacramento, Placer, Sonoma, San Joaquin,and Yuba Counties. On March 28, 2012, Reyes was sentencedby Judge Mendez to four years and nine months in prisonfor conspiring to distribute hydrocodone and aggravatedidentity theft. The Placer County District Attorney'sOffice has obtained at least 11 other convictions relatedto this scheme.
According to court documents, in 2006, Reyes worked for a Sacramento area cardiologist as a licensed medical assistant. Reyes used the doctor's Drug EnforcementAdministration registration number to call in fraudulentprescriptions for hydrocodone using the names of patients.Savaloja and other conspirators would pick up the hydrocodonefrom the pharmacy, and Reyes would sell the pills.
On July 29, 2009, Savaloja was arrested following a prescription pickup outside of a pharmacy. In a recordedinterview with law enforcement on the same date, Savalojaadmitted he worked for Reyes for at least the lastsix months and had helped him pick up numerous prescriptions.He said Reyes was paying him $100 a bottle to arrangeprescription pickups. Savaloja also made several pickupsin his own name for Reyes. At sentencing today, Savalojasaid that his own drug addiction had led him to breakthe law.
The State of California requires pharmacies to report all prescriptions of Schedule II and III controlled substances to an electronic reporting database (theControlled Substance Utilization Review and EvaluationSystem (CURES). The CURES database shows that approximately508 prescriptions for hydrocodone (totaling approximately97,000 pills) were distributed by approximately 89pharmacies under the purported authority of the doctorfor whom Reyes worked during the conspiracy. Savalojaadmitted responsibility for at least 5,000 of thosepills. CURES logged the date of each prescription,the number of pills, and the purported patient to whomthe pills were distributed. The names of approximately74 purported patients were used, often without knowledgeor consent of the persons to whom those names actuallycorresponded.
Hydrocodone is one of the most commonly abused prescriptiondrugs, often with deadly consequences. According tothe Sacramento County Coroner, in 2007 there were 15deaths in Sacramento County with drug toxicity listedas the cause of death. That number dropped slightlyin 2008 and 2009 and then rose sharply in 2010 to 67such deaths. In 2011, there were 95 such deaths, andthe increased number is largely attributable to theabuse of prescription drugs such as hydrocodone.
According to U.S. Attorney Wagner, "Prescriptiondrugs, when responsibly prescribed and used as directed,are a great benefit to our society. However, the abuseof these same drugs has occasioned a public healthcrisis so serious that the Center for Disease Controlhas classified it as an epidemic. My office is dedicatedto prosecuting illegal dealers of prescription drugs.We are also working to reduce the illicit demand forsuch drugs through education."
On September 20, 2012, the United States Attorney'sOffice convened a summit to address teen prescriptiondrug abuse in the Sacramento region. At that summit,Mr. Wagner announced the creation of an Action Committeeon Teen Prescription Drug Abuse, with membership composedof federal, state and local governmental agencies,schools, nonprofits, and other interested stakeholders.Over the next year, this Action Committee will seekto educate the public about how to prevent prescriptiondrug abuse.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Sacramento Resident Office of the Drug EnforcementAdministration, the Auburn Police Department, the Rocklin Police Department, the Lincoln Police Department, and the California Department of Justice. Assistant UnitedStates Attorney Daniel S. McConkie prosecuted the case.