TEXARKANA, Ark. -- A defense motion filed Thursday in a criminal case involving Lansdell Family Clinics argues that defendants accused of a drug crime shouldn't be tried with those accused of fraud.
A one-count indictment unsealed in March accused five nurse practitioners and three pharmacists of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, particularly opioids, without a legitimate prescription. A superseding indictment filed in April adds five defendants and allegations of healthcare fraud and wire fraud related to federal pandemic relief funds.
Count one of the superseding indictment includes allegations identical to those in the original indictment.
The only defendant named in the superseding indictment in count one -- which alleges conspiracy to distribute opioids -- who is also accused of fraud is the lead defendant and owner of Lansdell Family Clinics, Tawnya Lee Lansdell. Defendants added in counts two through five, which allege fraud, include Tawnya Lansdell's husband, Michael Lansdell; her brother, Rusty Lynn Griffin; and her nephew, Michael "Mick" Wallace Martin.
Lansdell Family Clinic PLLC and Lansdell Farms LLC are also charged in the superseding indictment in counts alleging fraud.
Little Rock lawyer John Wesley Hall filed a motion to sever on behalf of pharmacist Gina Richardson. The motion argues that with the exception of Tawnya Lansdell, the nurses and pharmacists accused in count one will be prejudiced if they are tried with the defendants accused of fraud.
Hall argues that the drug and fraud allegations are "unrelated" and should be separated.
"One can easily envision the prejudice to the drug case defendants standing trial with the fraud case completely irrelevant to them, perhaps sitting there for a couple of weeks with occasional cross-examination limited to 'what does this have to do with my client,'" the motion states.
Nurse practitioners Tawnya Lansdell, Claire Terece Russell, Wendy Wynette Gammon, Shelly Rae Eastridge and Bonita Lois Martin and pharmacists Candace Michelle Whitley, Gina M. Richardson and Stephen Haden Sullivan are named in count one.
Hall argues that the "only common thread" between count one and counts two through five is Tawnya Lansdell and that "there is no allegation whatsoever linking defendant with the other four counts since there is no allegation that the charges are connected or that they are common to a larger, overarching conspiracy or scheme."
The case is pending in the Texarkana Division of the Western District of Arkansas before U.S. District Judge Susan Hickey and U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Bryant. The government has not filed a response to Hall's motion to sever.
All of the defendants have pleaded not guilty and all are currently free on unsecured appearance bonds.
https://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/2022/apr/24/superseding-indictment-accuses-lansdell-family/