Cash, fake patients and Zelle: Inside a South Florida oxycodone trafficking ring

A Miami man has pleaded guilty to federal charges of participating in a South Florida oxycodone trafficking operation in which people were paid to obtain medically unnecessary prescriptions that were filled at a Broward County pharmacy, allowing thousands of powerful painkillers to be diverted for resale on the streets.

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Jose Llerena, 49, admitted that he used prescriptions issued in other people’s names to obtain oxycodone from Striderite Pharmacy, where pharmacist and owner Olushola Yusuf continued supplying the medication despite obvious warning signs that the pills were being diverted for illegal distribution.

The operation was part of a broader conspiracy involving more than 87,000 oxycodone pills, according to federal prosecutors. Llerena was personally responsible for distributing 3,735 tablets of 30-milligram oxycodone, a potent prescription opioid that has long been a target of illegal drug trafficking.

Llerena pleaded guilty Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ellen F. D’Angelo to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, an offense carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.

His admission comes months after Yusuf, a licensed pharmacist who owned and operated the Broward pharmacy, was convicted at trial of illegally dispensing more than 300,000 oxycodone 30mg pills.

Court documents filed in connection with Llerena’s plea describe an operation that ran from approximately February 2020 through August 2024, involving individuals recruited to obtain prescriptions, medical professionals who issued them and a pharmacy willing to fill them despite repeated indications of illegal activity.

According to an agreed statement of facts signed by Llerena and prosecutors, he obtained prescriptions for oxycodone and other controlled substances in the names of individuals who had no legitimate medical need for the drugs.

The prescriptions were then taken to Striderite Pharmacy, where Yusuf and other pharmacy employees dispensed the medication to Llerena.

Multiple patients were receiving prescriptions for the same medication, dosage and quantity, creating what the court document described as “factory-like prescriptions.” Llerena also routinely paid cash to collect prescriptions for numerous individuals who were not related to him and for whom he had no apparent legitimate reason to obtain medication.

Despite those circumstances, Yusuf continued dispensing oxycodone to Llerena, according to the factual proffer.

After obtaining the pills, Llerena kept them and paid the individuals whose names appeared on the prescriptions, typically using the electronic payment service Zelle. He then resold the oxycodone to other buyers.

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Federal prosecutors described Llerena as a “patient recruiter,” someone who arranged for individuals to pose as legitimate patients so they could obtain prescriptions for controlled substances that would ultimately be sold illegally.

The arrangement allowed prescription opioids to move from medical offices through a licensed pharmacy and into the illegal drug market, using seemingly legitimate prescriptions to conceal the transactions.

The factual proffer also identifies Dr. Sergei Margulian, a physician licensed by the Drug Enforcement Administration to prescribe controlled substances, as one of the medical professionals whose prescriptions Llerena obtained.

According to the document, prescriptions issued by Margulian and other medical professionals were not written for legitimate medical purposes in the usual course of professional practice.

Some prescriptions were transmitted electronically to the pharmacy, where Llerena arranged to collect the medication in the names of the purported patients.

The documents do not establish whether Margulian has been charged in connection with the conspiracy.

The pharmacy’s role was central to the operation, according to prosecutors. Yusuf, who owned and operated Striderite Pharmacy, agreed to dispense oxycodone to Llerena in exchange for cash despite the repeated warning signs.

The Justice Department said Yusuf maintained a list of Llerena’s recruits at the pharmacy and received cash payments from him at above-market prices.

Yusuf’s conviction earlier this year involved the illegal dispensing of more than 300,000 oxycodone pills, a substantially larger quantity than the 87,000 pills attributed to the conspiracy described in Llerena’s case.

Although Llerena faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of as much as $1 million, his written plea agreement includes several provisions that could substantially reduce his eventual sentence.

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