CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday that a Russian doctor who previously lived and practiced in the South Charleston area was sentenced to three years in prison for illegally distributing oxycodone.
Dr. Alexander V. Otelin, 57, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release following his prison term.
Investigators say at least two of Oterin’s patients died from overprescribing painkillers.
Otelin practiced psychiatry and prescribed painkillers to patients who had been given opiates by another doctor and were abusing heroin and fentanyl, according to the release.
“Nonetheless, Otelin continued to prescribe drugs that were dangerous when combined with illegal, unprescribed drugs,” the release states. “Mr. Oterin further acknowledged that the distribution had no legitimate medical purpose, was outside the scope of normal medical practice, and lacked proper authority.”
Investigators say this pattern lasted more than six years, from early 2014 to mid-2020.
“During approximately five months of this period, Otelin wrote prescriptions for oxycodone and other controlled substances for patients without evaluating them,” the release states.
Investigators said Otelin, a dual citizen of the United States and Russia, fled the United States to Russia to avoid prosecution after he was indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2021.
In April 2024, he was arrested in Armenia and extradited to Kanawha County, West Virginia.
Oterin surrendered his medical license to the West Virginia State Medical Board.
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