The former chief operating officer of several southwest Virginia pain clinics has been sentenced to 36 months in federal prison for her involvement in healthcare fraud and drug conspiracies. Jennifer Adams, 52, from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, served as the Chief Operating Officer of L5 Medical Holdings. This company operated under the name “Pain Care Centers” and ran clinics in Woodlawn, Lynchburg, Madison Heights, Blacksburg, and Christiansburg.
In November 2024, Adams pled guilty to concealing illegal prescribing practices and healthcare fraud at these clinics. Court documents revealed that John Barnes, a former mortgage broker with no medical training, purchased and operated Pain Care Center clinics in 2014. Providers at these clinics prescribed opioids and opioid addiction treatment medications such as Suboxone. Adams assisted Barnes in managing the clinics despite lacking medical training herself.
As part of her plea agreement, Adams admitted to encouraging medical providers at L5 to rely on non-medical professionals’ opinions when making decisions about patient treatments for opioid addiction or pain management. She also confessed to knowing that Dr. Wendell Randall was not providing legitimate care to patients. Employees described Dr. Randall as a “quack” and questioned his qualifications.
Adams acknowledged her awareness that L5 used some doctors’ prescribing credentials illegally to prescribe Suboxone without patient consultations by those doctors. Additionally, she helped implement drug testing policies that improperly inflated bills sent to medical insurers.
The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee along with Special Agent in Charge Ibrar A. Mian of DEA Washington Division; Special Agent in Charge Maureen R. Dixon of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General’s Philadelphia Region; Colonel Matthew D. Hanley, Superintendent of the Virginia State Police; and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares.
The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), U.S Department of Health & Human Services Office Of The Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Virginia State Police (VSP), and Virginia Attorney General’s Office – Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Assistant U.S Attorneys S Cagle Juhan & Jason M Scheff prosecuted this case.
