TITUSVILLE, Fla. — A well-known pharmacist in Titusville has pleaded guilty to distributing and dispensing controlled substances, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.
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46-year-old Basil Itani was indicted back in June on six felony offenses. Five of the charges were dropped as a part of the plea agreement.
According to the agreement, Itani knowingly distributed controlled substances, including mixtures and substances containing oxycodone and methadone, on nine different occasions between Jan. 5 and May 24.
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On each occasion, a confidential informant paid cash for bottles of pills without a prescription and with no legitimate medical purpose.
Titusville pharmacist pleads guilty to distributing opioids & benzodiazepines without a prescription. @DEAMIAMIDiv @TitusvillePD https://t.co/oEjjrWHvq0
— USAO Middle Florida (@USAO_MDFL) September 28, 2023
According to the agreement, the first controlled purchase took place on Jan. 5 when the informant entered the Itani Family Pharmacy on Garden Street after it was closed. Once they were alone, the informant gave Itani $600 in cash for two pill bottles with the labels torn off that were later confirmed to contain 100 methadone pills each.
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The controlled purchases continued in the same manner approximately every two weeks until March with the informant paying as much as $2,000 during some of the visits for bottles of controlled substances including oxycodone, methadone and Xanax without prescriptions.
According to the agreement, the informant “repeatedly” made comments directly to Itani about how well the drugs were selling.
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Itani was arrested at his pharmacy in June. He now faces a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison.
A sentencing date has not been set.
Read the full plea agreement below:
U.S. v. Basil Itani plea agreement by Charles Frazier on Scribd
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