By Juan Ortega
The Sun Sentinel
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Two Pompano Beach firefighters were arrested Wednesday along with 10 other Floridians on drug-trafficking and racketeering charges as part of “Operation Pill Street Blues” — a multi-agency crackdown on a statewide network of illegal pain clinics, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Federal authorities alleged that firefighters Lewis Gabriel Stouffer, 32, of Coconut Creek, and Craig Louis Turturo, 32, of Boca Raton, were among a group of partners who made millions of dollars from pill mills. Stouffer is accused by authorities of being “the brains of the operation,” which allegedly thrived from having corrupt doctors dispense millions of pills without medical justification to patients, many of whom were drug addicts.
Stouffer allegedly researched public records about past federal drug investigations to become savvy about illegally running clinics and to avoid scrutiny from law enforcement, the DEA said. In exchange for his expertise, Stouffer got a share of the profits, the DEA said.
Full story: Two Pompano Beach firefighters arrested in pain clinic crackdown