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United States v. Lovern

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Before TACHA, O’BRIEN, and GORSUCH, Circuit Judges.

The principal owner-operator of Red Mesa Pharmacy pled guilty to conspiracy to dispense drugs in violation of the Controlled Substances Act. Meanwhile, two of his employees went to trial on similar charges and now appeal their resulting convictions. The trial record tells very different stories about the two men and their roles in the pharmacy’s operations. The first, Jerry Lovern, is a pharmacist with almost forty-five years’ experience. The record strongly suggests that he well knew details of the pharmacy’s illicit operation, and we affirm his convictions. By contrast, Robert Barron, a high school drop-out with no experience in the medical or pharmaceutical fields, served as the pharmacy’s computer technician. There is no evidence that he knew Red Mesa’s managers and pharmacists filled prescriptions issued without a legitimate medical purpose or in defiance of professional standards. Accordingly, we are obliged to reverse his convictions.

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