Dearborn doctor sentenced to four years in prison for illegally selling powerful opioid pills

(CBS DETROIT) - A Dearborn doctor has been sentenced to four years in federal prison for conspiring to distribute and distributing over 12,000 powerful opioid pills, United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison announced.

Dr. Tete Oniango, 48, was sentenced based on his plea of guilty to conspiring with patient recruiters and others to distribute prescription opioid pills in violation of his medical and DEA licenses.

Officials say Oniango unlawfully prescribed 12,500 hydrocodone pills, a powerful, Schedule II controlled substance.

Hydrocodone is commonly prescribed under the brand names of Vicodin, Lortab, Lorcet, and Norco.

Oniango would prescribe opioids to patients at his Dearborn clinic without conducting appropriate medical examinations.

As part of his sentence, he was  ordered to forfeit about $38,000 in cash that authorities seized from his office.

In addition to this, officials say in 2021 Oniango attempted to flee the United States by taking a bus to Mexico while on bond and pretrial release.

He was stopped by border agents and returned to United States authorities.

"Michigan has been devastated by opioid drug overdoses in the last decade," said Ison. "Dr. Oniango betrayed his oath as a physician and injected poison into our communities for profit.  My office will zealously pursue medical providers who abuse their licenses and inflict harm upon our community."  

James A. Tarasca, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Detroit Field Office also commented on Oniango betraying his oath and said, "As a physician, Dr. Oniango was trusted to prescribe potent narcotics in keeping with laws and regulations designed to prevent the diversion of prescription drugs that fuel the ongoing opioid epidemic. Not only did he break that trust, but he also attempted to flee the consequences of his criminal behavior. The FBI is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to investigate this type of criminal behavior and to ensuring those who operate outside the law face the consequence for that choice."