This article has been updated to include a comment from the Board of Trustees.
A now-former Ohio University Board of Trustees member pleaded guilty to drug, tax and fraud charges and to prescribing illegal prescriptions to hundreds of patients each day.
Dr. Kevin Lake, of New Albany, was found guilty of evading more than $3.5 million in taxes. He agreed to pay restitution out of $29 million worth of earnings from the Columbus Southern Medical Center, the location of the illegal drug activity, and forfeit the rest, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The government released Lake’s plea agreement Monday, which states that he knew doctors and staff at the clinic prescribed drugs such as oxycodone, hydrocodone and Xanax to patients without a legitimate medical reason from 2006 to 2013.
“For seven years, Kevin Lake operated Columbus Southern Medical Center as a pill mill,” U.S. Attorney Benjamin Glassman said in the 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.”
Lake, 50, exclusively controlled the money received from the prescriptions, which totaled more than $38 million in payments for patient visits. He also admitted to laundering more than $20 million with the drug money, according to the release.
“There is no doubt that today’s opiate epidemic is due in large part to the overprescribing of prescription pain medication across this state,” Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said in the release. “This defendant preyed on those battling addiction in an effort to make millions from their suffering. An incredible amount of hard work went into investigating and prosecuting this case. Because of this team effort, this pill mill operation has been shut down.”
Among other charges, Lake also pleaded guilty to tax evasion on his personal income tax returns and to filing fraudulent tax returns for his corporations and trusts. He did not report $90,000 in 2010 to 2013 that he paid himself from the clinic. Instead, the money was said to be used for fake rental payments.
The DEA first began investigating the clinic in June 2010, the same year former Gov. Ted Strickland appointed Lake to the Board of Trustees.
After that, Lake stopped paying himself a salary, filed a fraudulent disability claim and sold what was left of the clinic’s stock to employees for $14 million, according to the release.
“At the same time Dr. Lake was running his medical center as an illegal drug premises, he took every opportunity to cheat the U.S. Treasury out of millions of dollars in taxes,” Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart Goldberg said in the release. “As the income tax filing season begins, Lake’s guilty plea is a stark reminder of what awaits those filing false returns — no matter their profession, income level or the complexity of their scheme.”
Lake stepped down from the board Jan. 21, a day after the trustees’ January meeting, OU Spokeswoman Carly Leatherwood said.
"The Ohio University Board of Trustees learned yesterday that former trustee Dr. Kevin Lake pled guilty to prescribing illegal prescriptions to patients at his clinic, among other crimes," according to a statement from the Board of Trustees. "We are shocked and deeply disappointed by this development, and sympathize with the patients and their families impacted by his unlawful behavior."
Lake, who received his medical degree from OU’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1992, will face five years in prison.
