A federal jury convicted a Tampa doctor of 14 counts of unlawful drug distribution, four counts of money laundering and one count of filing a false tax return, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday.
Qing McGaha, 57, was arrested Friday night, according to jail records. McGaha had been indicted on the charges Jan. 2.
Undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agents made multiple appointments with McGaha at her Hillsborough County pain management clinic, MD Care Clinic, over 20 months, the release said. At each appointment, McGaha gave agents drugs such as hydrocodone, hydromorphone and oxycodone without any “legitimate medical purpose.”
McGaha distributed more than 2.1 million opioid pills between 2016 and 2021, authorities said.
According to the release, McGaha used the money she made from criminal activity at her clinic to make multiple transactions of more than $10,000 each, including deposits to her personal bank account and the purchase of property in Clearwater. She also underreported the clinic’s gross revenue by almost $300,000 in her 2020 taxes.
The Florida-licensed doctor faces up to a 20-year maximum prison sentence for each count of drug distribution, a 10-year maximum sentence for each count of money laundering and a three-year maximum sentence for the single count of filing a false tax return.
Multiple federal and local agencies investigated the case, including the Tampa office of the DEA, the IRS, the U.S. Attorney’s Office Opioid Fraud Abuse and Detection Unit, the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force and the Tampa, Largo and Lakeland police departments.
McGaha will receive her sentence at a hearing Sept. 15.
