St. George 'pill pusher' doctor sentenced to 8 years in prison

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — A St. George doctor was sentenced Monday to federal prison for writing false or fraudulent prescriptions that flooded more than 81,000 oxycodone pills into southern Utah and Nevada.

Simmon Lee Wilcox, 60, was ordered to spend just over eight years behind bars after a jury convicted him of distribution of oxycodone and conspiracy to distribute oxycodone earlier this year. He was acquitted of three counts of distribution of hydrocodone.

Wilcox was ordered to report to whichever prison he is assigned to on Aug. 12.

As he handed down the 100-month sentence, U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart called Wilcox "a great enigma to me."

On the one hand, Stewart acknowledged Wilcox overcame great poverty to become a doctor apparently committed to providing care despite many patients' inability to pay. On the other, he professed to be an expert in drug rehabilitation while simultaneously fueling the addictions of many, the judge said.

Though Wilcox was "indispensable" to the drug distribution scheme, he has shown no remorse and continues to blame others, Stewart said.

"Oxycodone is a dangerous drug that has destroyed many lives," Stewart said, noting that Wilcox appears "totally blasé" about the dangers of opioid addiction.

According to investigators, Wilcox wrote more than 600 prescriptions between July 2010 and March 2013, knowing that the pain medications were being obtained using fake identifications to either be used for non-medical use or to be sold.

Wilcox addressed the judge briefly Monday, saying he was sorry for the decisions that led him into the illegal operation.

"Clearly I made bad choices in who I allowed to be around me and not monitoring what they had access to," Wilcox said.

He went on to say that despite the great work they did together helping others to overcome addiction, his wife at the time hid her own struggle from him and slipped a prescription pad from his office to get pills. It was through her that Wilcox said he met the people who ultimately involved him in the drug distribution operation.

Wilcox lamented not communicating to his ex-wife early on in their relationship that they could be open with one another about any personal battles with addiction. It's a mistake he said he won't make again.

Following his attorney's argument for granting Wilcox supervised release rather than prison, the doctor said he hoped to continue researching and treating methamphetamine and opiate addiction.

"I want to be able to still provide service to those community members," Wilcox said.

Assistant U.S. attorney Vernon Stejskal emphasized the devastating impact of the drugs Wilcox ushered onto the streets, feeding existing addictions and creating new ones.

"Dr. Wilcox specifically used his position as a licensed and trained person to get those 81,000 pills into the community," Stejskal said, calling the estimate "conservative."

Stejskal claimed Wilcox brought his business to Utah specifically in hopes of making money. In the prescription drug scheme, he did just that, Stejskal said.

"The word on the street was Dr. Wilcox was the place to go for pain medications in St. George or Las Vegas," Stejskal said. "He chose to become a pill pusher, essentially."

Wilcox's attorney, Brian Frees, noted the disparity of Wilcox's sentence to those of his co-defendants, who all accepted plea deals in the case and were ordered to spend anywhere from one day to 48 months behind bars. One co-defendant received no jail or prison time.

Five people previously pleaded guilty in the case to one count each of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone: Benjamin David Grisel, 49, of Santa Clara; Brenda Grisel, 48, of Santa Clara; Jeron Scott Hales, 40, of Hurricane; Jeremy Daniel Perkins, 36, of Washington; and Randall David Ayrton, 35, of St. George.

Frees claimed the doctor had standing job offers and could continue to provide essential medical care to the community if he were granted supervised release rather than prison.

Frees also said his client was initially unaware of the prescription pads that had been stolen from him or the beginnings of the conspiracy. After falling into financial straits from "giving out too much free medical care," Frees said Wilcox yielded to the enticing of a "kingpin" and joined the operation.

Now Wilcox has lost his DEA licensure, his income, his reputation and his relationships, his attorney said, calling the one-bedroom apartment the once well-off doctor now lives in "his prison cell."

"His personal life has been destroyed," Frees said. "Punishment has been so significant already, there is no benefit to Dr. Wilcox going to prison."

Frees said Wilcox is appealing the conviction.