A 62-year-old Macomb County pharmacist, Hasna Bashir Iwas, has been dished out an eight-year prison sentence for unlawfully doling out more than 300,000 doses of prescription meds, including opioids and benzodiazepines, between 2013 and 2018, the U.S. Attorney's Office confirmed.
The proprietor of Beacon Pointe Pharmacy on Jefferson Avenue, Iwas received the sentence Wednesday for crimes dating back to her dealings with Dr. Otis Crawford, who penned the unlawful prescriptions and later pleaded guilty before his death, in crimes that contributed to the estimated $1.8 to $3.3 million street value of the distributed drugs, but what's shocking here is not just the hefty profits she raked in—which amounted to $781,546—but the sheer guts it must take to spin this web of deceit in a position of such trust, according to court documents reported by ClickOnDetroit and Macomb Daily.
U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison was quoted saying, "My office will continue to devote resources to prosecuting healthcare professionals such as this defendant, who use their trusted roles as healthcare providers to deal drugs in our community," further shining a light on the betrayal by someone sworn to care for the public's health, as covered by Macomb Daily.
Details from the prosecution’s sentencing memorandum paint Iwas as a figure who lived well beyond her means, driving a white Mercedes and owning a waterfront home that her legal earnings as a pharmacist could hardly cover, a lifestyle fueled by the dark underbelly of the pharmaceutical trade she so willingly participated in, this narrative is underscored by claims that despite appearances she tried to cultivate of an upstanding pharmacist, behind closed doors it was a different story with prescription drug warning posters being mere props in her show of legitimacy, according to the prosecution as reported by The Detroit News.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General, with assistance from the Detroit Police Department spearheaded the investigation that led to Iwas’ downfall, signaling an end to an operation that had been able to exploit the cracks within the system for years, while the case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne F. Pratt with forfeiture litigation by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gjon Juncaj, as investigated by The Detroit News.
