PHARMACIST BOOKED IN DRUG PROBE

Methadone Sold Illegally, Cops Say

The owner of a Slidell drugstore that was one of the nation's top
purchasers of methadone in September was arrested Wednesday on
charges of selling narcotics without prescriptions at his pharmacy.

Gary Richardson, a pharmacist who owns the Medicap Pharmacy at 140
Gause Blvd., was arrested Wednesday morning after he sold methadone
to two undercover narcotics agents who didn't have prescriptions for
the drug, Slidell Police Chief Freddy Drennan said.

Richardson, 54, 13477 Riverlake Drive, Covington, had been under
investigation for about six months after authorities received several
complaints about him dispensing unprescribed narcotics, Drennan said.

In September, Richardson's pharmacy received shipments of 53,400
doses of methadone, a synthetic depressant commonly used to treat
heroin addiction. That's more than any other Louisiana pharmacy and
No. 11 among drugstores nationwide, said William Renton Jr., special
agent in charge of the New Orleans office of the federal Drug
Enforcement Administration, which helped with the investigation, as
did the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office.

"This store was a significant source of drugs entering the illicit
market," Renton said. "The numbers are particularly striking when you
consider that there were fewer people in Slidell in September because
of the Hurricane Katrina evacuation."

Agents executing a search warrant at the pharmacy Wednesday seized
all prescription drugs and business records, which they hope to use
to identify any customers who illegally bought drugs, Renton said.

Richardson, who authorities said has confessed and surrendered his
license to operate a pharmacy, was booked with two counts of
distributing methadone and two counts of distributing narcotics
within 1,000 feet of a school.

Thomas James Lemoine, 39, a pharmacist who worked at the store, also
was arrested Wednesday after he turned over three amphetamine-based
weight-loss tablets and a dose of testosterone for which he did not
have prescriptions, Drennan said.

Lemoine, who lives at 324 Oriole Drive in Slidell, was booked with
two counts of narcotics possession but was not charged in the alleged
illegal drug sales.

Renton said authorities are investigating a second Medicap Pharmacy
owned by Richardson. He said the store, at 2230 E. Gause Blvd., was
damaged by Katrina and has remained closed since the Aug. 29 storm.