A federal appeals court has rejected arguments by a former Vero Beach orthopedic surgeon sentenced to life in prison in the death of a Palm Beach County woman who overdosed on counterfeit oxycodone pills.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on Friday upheld the conviction of Johnny Clyde Benjamin Jr. on a series of charges related to producing and distributing counterfeit pills that included the substance furanyl fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid.

Benjamin was arrested after an investigation into the Sept. 1, 2016, death of a 34-year-old Wellington woman who was found dead of an overdose in her apartment. The appeals court ruling identified the woman only by the initials M.C., but the Palm Beach Post previously identified her as Margaret "Maggie" Crowley.