Four Lose Appeals Challenging Tennessee Pill Mill Convictions

A Tennessee pain clinic manager and three nurse practitioners lost their Sixth Circuit appeals, after the court rejected assertions the jury was incorrectly instructed on drug-related charges.

All four defendants were convicted of maintaining a drug-involved premises. The manager, Sylvia Hofstetter, was also convicted of conspiring to distribute controlled substances, distributing controlled substances, and money laundering.

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the convictions once before, but that decision was vacated and remanded by the US Supreme Court in the wake of Ruan v. United States, which clarified the mens rea—or intent—required for an unlawful ...