A former Ohio University Board of Trustees member who pleaded guilty to operating a pill mill died on Friday night after being shot in his home Thursday morning.
Franklin County sheriff’s deputies found Kevin Lake, 51, of New Albany, Ohio, suffering from a gunshot wound in his bedroom on Thursday morning, Major Steven Tucker said. Lake was taken to Grant Medical Center, where he remained until he died Friday evening. Police are investigating the incident as a homicide.
Lake's 19-year-old son called the
The family told police they had received a threatening letter recently, but police only became aware of it after the shooting, Tucker said.
Tucker said he wasn’t sure if anything was taken from the house, but nothing appeared to be damaged.
“I don’t know what was there before,” he said. “The house was not ransacked and it doesn’t look like anything was taken.”
According to a previous Post report, Lake stepped down from his role as a trustee after pleading guilty to charges of drug,
“For seven years, Kevin Lake operated Columbus Southern Medical Center as a pill mill,” U.S. Attorney Benjamin Glassman said in a release. “He got rich by feeding the addictions of hundreds and hundreds of people. Thanks to the thorough investigation of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, however, Lake has agreed to plead guilty to drug, tax, and fraud charges, forfeit his ill-gotten gains, and serve time in federal prison for his misdeeds.”
Tucker said police were taking Lake’s past into account during the investigation.
“We’re looking at all options,” Tucker said. “It’s important for us to be very cognizant that he was convicted in federal court on charges for running a pill mill.”
