Jason Miyares, Attorney General of Virginia, said that a Martinsville doctor sentenced to 40 years for opioid distribution acted like a drug dealer. He praised the joint law enforcement effort in a statement made on X.
“This doctor operated like a drug dealer with a prescription pad, flooding communities with addictive and deadly opioids while pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Jason Stuart Redding Miyares, Virginia State Executive – Attorney General. “I’m proud of the outstanding work done by my Major Crimes and Emerging Threats prosecutor M. Suzanne Kerney-Quillen, in partnership with OAG’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and federal and local law enforcement, to hold him accountable.”
A Martinsville physician, Dr. Joel Smithers, was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for illegally distributing opioids that prosecutors said caused the deaths of at least one patient. According to the Associated Press, Smithers was convicted of more than 800 counts of illegally prescribing opioids, including oxycodone and oxymorphone, to patients who traveled hundreds of miles to his small Virginia clinic. His case highlights the severity of opioid “pill mill” prosecutions in Appalachia.
Federal opioid prosecutions in Virginia have intensified in recent years. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia reported that in 2023 prosecutors secured convictions in multiple large-scale opioid cases, and the Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid Strike Force has charged over 100 individuals since 2018. Sentences in these cases often range from 10 years to life, reflecting harsh penalties for illegal opioid distribution in the state.
Opioid overdoses remain a leading cause of death in Virginia and the U.S. The Virginia Department of Health reported that in 2022, the state recorded 2,490 overdose deaths, with opioids—primarily fentanyl—involved in nearly 80% of cases. Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported over 107,000 drug overdose deaths in 2022, with synthetic opioids driving the majority, showing a persistent upward trend despite state and federal intervention efforts.
Miyares was born in 1976 in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is the Attorney General of Virginia and was elected in 2021 as the first Hispanic AG in the state’s history. According to his official biography, Miyares previously served as a Republican delegate representing Virginia Beach and worked as a prosecutor. As Attorney General, he has prioritized fighting violent crime, combating the opioid crisis, and pursuing tougher penalties for drug traffickers.
