OAKLAND — A former physician assistant busted last year in an undercover sting by the Drug Enforcement Administration accepted 37 months in exchange for pleading guilty to dealing prescription pills.
Mark Allen Flores, of San Ramon, was also given three years federal probation. In exchange for pleading guilty to distributing Xanax and hydrocodone, two similar charges were dropped, according to court records.
Many of the records in Flores’ case were filed under seal, but when he was indicted in March 2017, he was facing a maximum of 20 years in federal prison. The complaint against Flores accused him of selling Xanax and prescription painkillers, as well as filing fraudulent prescriptions.
It started when the DEA was tipped off by employees at a Safeway pharmacy, who reported that lots of men in their 20s were coming to the pharmacy with prescriptions — filled out by Flores — for high-dosage painkiller pills. The California Medical Board looked into Flores’ practice and concluded that his prescription pattern was “unusual.” They identified 15 people who had received multiple prescriptions for various painkillers.
In October, an undercover agent identifying herself as Lisa called Flores multiple times and eventually got a call back. He agreed to meet her at a Peet’s Coffee in Walnut Creek. There, he prescribed some 1-milligram Xanax pills, for which she paid him $200, according to the DEA.
Flores, released shortly after his arrest, must report to the Bureau of Prisons by Oct. 1, according to court records.