ARLINGTON, Texas — An Arlington physician has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for fraud and drug crimes, federal officials announced Friday.
Clinton Battle, 69, was convicted in July 2021 on one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and one count of distribution of a controlled substance. He later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Officials said that, according to evidence presented at trial, Battle "routinely issued prescriptions for controlled substances – including hydrocodone, alprazolam, acetaminophen with codeine, tramadol, and phentermine – outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose."
According to the DOJ, he issued prescriptions for controlled substances without conducting any medical examination at all, sometimes telling office staff to issue prescriptions for whichever controlled substance the patient wanted. He also issued prescriptions for friends or family members with whom he had no physician-patient relationship, officials said.
During Battle's trial, one of his former employees testified that she, her husband, and Battle agreed that Battle would provide the employee’s husband with illegal controlled substance prescriptions in exchange for cocaine.
In addition to cocaine, the evidence also showed that Dr. Battle would receive money in the form of fees paid by “patients” of $200 for an initial visit and $80 for return visits in exchange for controlled substance prescriptions, a DOJ press release stated.
Throughout the course of the five-year conspiracy, Battle issued more than 50,000 controlled substance prescriptions, 17,000 of which were for the powerful opioid hydrocodone, according to the DOJ.
“Dealers of illegal drugs come in many forms. This is a case of the abuse of trust and position,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Eduardo A. Chávez. “Dr. Battle and his co-conspirators used their authority to push pills into our neighborhoods disregarding the inherent harm they cause. DEA’s teamwork with our federal and local area law enforcement agencies make it possible to pursue any person distributing illegal drugs, no matter the disguise.”
Battle also defrauded worker’s compensation and health insurers by conspiring to submit claims for functional capacity evaluations (FCEs) that he claimed he himself administered over the course of several hours, according to his plea papers.
