A Clay County pharmacy owner and three others sentenced to prison and ordered to pay over $1.4 million in restitution for their roles in a years-long conspiracy to unlawfully dispense controlled substances.
The US Attorney’s Office for Middle Tennessee said 65-year-old Thomas K. Weir of Celina received a two-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to the charges in September 2025. The office said Weir must also forfeit the pharmacy building and warehouse used to facilitate the scheme involving Oakley Pharmacy, Dale Hollow Pharmacy, and Clay County Xpress Pharmacy.
“The defendants turned trusted community pharmacies into engines for opioid distribution and health care fraud,” United States Attorney Braden H. Boucek said. “Rather than serving patients and protecting public health, they ignored clear warning signs, fueled the unlawful distribution of dangerous drugs, and billed taxpayer-funded health care programs for the privilege. Today’s sentence, along with the forfeiture of the property used to facilitate these crimes, demonstrates that those who choose profit over patient safety will be held accountable.”
The charges included defrauding federal and state healthcare programs.
The office said the conspiracy lasted from 2014 to 2019 and involved using pharmacy locations as sources for controlled substances despite red flags indicating abuse and diversion. The office said customers would travel long distances in groups to obtain the drugs without a legitimate medical purpose.
“The conspirators also submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicare Part D plans and TennCare for controlled substances dispensed to beneficiaries, including medically unnecessary combinations of highly abused drugs,” the office said, “To increase prescription volume, the conspirators engaged in a kickback scheme that included paying patient co-payments, distributing a fictitious currency known as ‘Monkey Bucks’ that could be redeemed for cash, and paying patients cash to fill prescriptions that were subsequently billed to Medicare and TennCare.”
The office said DEA previously inspected Dale Hollow Pharmacy in 2016 and entered a Memorandum of Agreement with the defendants to address regulation violations. The office said unlawful dispensing of controlled substances continued and increased at both locations following that agreement.
The office said 65-year-old Williamson L. Donaldson was also sentenced to two years in prison for his role as the former owner and pharmacist at Dale Hollow Pharmacy. The office said co-defendants Pamela Spivey and Charles Robert “Bobby” Oakley each received three years of probation and were ordered to pay criminal restitution.
The office said in the press release that two other associated pharmacists, John Polston and Michael Griffith, have pleaded guilty and are scheduled for sentencing in July.