A 65-year-old Nigerian doctor, Ndubuisi Joseph Okafor, has been found guilty by a U.S. federal jury for illegally distributing prescriptions for narcotics in exchange for cash from his medical clinic in Northwest Washington, D.C.
Okafor, a resident of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was convicted on March 21, 2025, following a trial in U.S. District Court. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the verdict, stating that Okafor had been running an illegal drug distribution scheme spanning multiple states.
The jury found Okafor guilty on multiple counts, including:
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Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances (outside the practice of medicine)
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Maintaining a drug-involved premises
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22 counts of unlawful distribution of controlled substances (oxycodone and promethazine with codeine)
U.S. District Judge John D. Bates has scheduled his sentencing for June 20, 2025.
According to court documents, between May 2021 and April 2023, Okafor was the sole owner of Okafor Medical Associates, an internal medicine clinic in Washington, D.C. Authorities launched an investigation after reports linked his prescriptions to drug trafficking networks across the U.S.
During the probe, FBI agents and confidential sources posed as patients at Okafor’s clinic, where they were prescribed opioids with minimal medical examination. Investigators discovered that Okafor was issuing prescriptions under false identities to individuals he knew were diverting the drugs for illegal sale.
His operations reportedly spanned at least 45 states, resulting in the distribution of hundreds of thousands of oxycodone pills and promethazine with codeine syrup.
Following the revelations, the D.C. Board of Health received a complaint against Okafor. In response, he allegedly falsified backdated medical records to justify his prescriptions. In September 2023, his DEA registration was suspended, deeming him a public health threat.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and the District of Columbia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, with assistance from multiple state law enforcement agencies.
The prosecution team, led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Mayer-Dempsey and Justice Department Trial Attorney Kathryn Furtado, secured Okafor’s conviction with support from federal paralegals and analysts.
The U.S. Department of Justice extended its gratitude to law enforcement agencies from North Carolina, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Ohio for their efforts in bringing Okafor to justice.
With his sentencing set for June 2025, Okafor faces a lengthy prison term for his role in fueling opioid abuse and drug trafficking across the United States.
