The former Chief Operating Officer of Pain Care Centers, Jennifer Adams, has been sentenced to 36 months in federal prison for her involvement in healthcare fraud and drug conspiracies. The sentence was handed down following her guilty plea in November 2024.
Adams, aged 52 and a resident of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, held the position at L5 Medical Holdings, which operated clinics under the name “Pain Care Centers” across several locations in southwest Virginia. These included Woodlawn, Lynchburg, Madison Heights, Blacksburg, and Christiansburg.
Court documents reveal that John Barnes, a former mortgage broker without medical training, purchased these clinics in 2014. Despite lacking medical expertise herself, Adams assisted Barnes in managing the operations. Providers at these centers were involved in prescribing opioids and medications for opioid addiction treatment.
In her plea agreement, Adams admitted to encouraging medical providers to rely on non-medical opinions when making critical decisions about patient care. This included decisions regarding opioid addiction treatment and pain management prescriptions.
Additionally, Adams acknowledged awareness of Dr. Wendell Randall’s inadequate patient care practices. Employees described him as a “quack” and questioned his legitimacy as a doctor due to insufficient justification for his prescriptions.
Adams also confessed to knowing about the illegal use of doctors’ prescribing credentials to issue Suboxone prescriptions without patient consultations. Furthermore, she played a role in implementing drug testing policies that led to inflated billing to insurers.
The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee alongside officials from various agencies including the DEA Washington Division and Virginia State Police. The investigation was conducted by multiple agencies including the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Virginia Attorney General’s Office – Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys S. Cagle Juhan and Jason M. Scheff prosecuted the case.
