Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A federal jury in the Middle District of Tennessee convicted a Tennessee woman yesterday for illegally distributing controlled substances.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Heather Marks, 43, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, was an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner who was licensed by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to distribute controlled substances. Marks prescribed controlled substances to patients seeking pain treatment at Lifeforce Pain and Wellness (Lifeforce), a pain clinic located in Carthage, Tennessee. Lifeforce was a small, rural clinic that purported to provide pain treatment. From September 2016 through May 2018, Marks and others overprescribed highly addictive opioids, including oxycodone and oxymorphone, to Lifeforce patients. Marks herself prescribed nearly a million opioid pills to almost 1,000 Lifeforce patients over the course of the conspiracy. These patients were often addicted to illegal drugs and the opioids Marks and others prescribed to them at Lifeforce. Marks ignored obvious signs of Lifeforce patients taking illegal drugs at the time she prescribed them opioids, which put these patients in danger of overdosing. Marks further prescribed opioids to Lifeforce patients who she knew were likely selling the opioids on the street. Lifeforce patients would often travel hundreds of miles to obtain opioid prescriptions at Lifeforce because they knew Marks would prescribe the opioids they needed to either abuse or sell on the street.
Lifeforce, the pain clinic in Carthage, Tennessee, where Marks illegally prescribed controlled substances.
The jury convicted Marks of conspiracy to illegally distribute controlled substances and eight counts of illegally distributing controlled substances. She is scheduled to be sentenced on September 1, 2026, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count of conviction. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division; U.S. Attorney Braden H. Boucek for the Middle District of Tennessee; Special Agent in Charge Terrence G. Reilly of the FBI; Special Agent in Charge Kelly Blackmon of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); and Special Agent in Charge Chris Ramage of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) made the announcement.
FBI, HHS-OIG, and TBI investigated the case.
Assistant Chief Jim Hayes and Trial Attorneys Lauren Randell and Manu Sebastian of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (Fraud Division). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
The Department of Justice’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in federal districts across the country, has charged more than 6,200 defendants who collectively billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $45 billion since 2007. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.