LOS ANGELES – A Venice man was sentenced today to 39 months in federal prison for his conviction on federal charges of illegally distributing prescription opioids.

            James Wilson, 56, was sentenced by United States District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr.

            At the conclusion of a bench trial in March, Judge Hatter found Wilson guilty of two counts of illegally distributing oxycodone. The evidence presented at trial showed that Wilson, during two different transactions in early 2016, sold a total of four prescriptions to an undercover operative working with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Each of the four prescriptions were for 120 30-milligram oxycodone pills, which is the maximum strength of the opioid sold through pharmacies.

            Wilson, who is neither a doctor nor a pharmacist, owned and operated what prosecutors called a “sham medical clinic.” The illegal prescription sales took place in the parking lot of Wilson's clinic, where he charged $200 for each of the illegal prescriptions.

            Wilson was arrested in this case in August 2017, at which time investigators found 160 blank prescriptions in his vehicle.

            Wilson's “scheme involved the diversion of oxycodone, a powerful and deadly opioid at the center of the nation's opioid crisis,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum.