This archive report was first published on 7 August 2020.
On August 5, 2020, law enforcement authorities arrested Harrison Maruje Mureithi (42), his mother Louise W. Mureithi (69), and Duncan Muthoni Wanjohi (23) in a major crackdown on a narcotics trafficking ring in Southern California.
The family, who reside in Norco, California, is accused of being part of a group that sold illegal opioid prescriptions for cash through a series of sham medical clinics.
According to court documents, Dr. John Michael Korzelius, 68, a.k.a. “Dr. K,” of Camarillo, worked at a Santa Ana pain management clinic where he allegedly wrote medically unnecessary prescriptions to patients who paid cash.
Over the course of two years, Korzelius and other medical professionals prescribed approximately 439,090 pills of 30mg oxycodone, the highest dose of short-acting oxycodone available, and the dose most popular for the drug-abusing population.
As part of the investigation, DEA agents seized 20,737 oxycodone pills and $177,610 in cash, including a mailed parcel containing a teddy bear stuffed with two bags of oxycodone pills.
If convicted, the defendants each face a statutory maximum sentence of at least 20 years in federal prison.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Scott D. Tenley and Andrew M. Beshai of the Santa Ana Branch Office.
