Ex-Gadsden School Board Member, Pharmacist Sentenced for $450,000 in Illegal Drug Sales
A former Gadsden Pharmacist and a City School Board Member, has been sentenced to federal prison – after pleading guilty to a drug distribution conspiracy and to tax crimes; the U.S. District Court Judge David Proctor, sentenced Nathan Thomas Carter, to 54 months in prison according to a Thursday announcement by Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona, FBI Special Agent in Charge Carlton Peeples, DEA Special Agent in Charge Brad Byerley, and the IRS Acting Special Agent in Charge Demetrius Hardeman.
Carter, a 41-year-old resident of Gadsden, plead guilty in July to one count of the conspiracy to unlawfully distribute controlled substances and three counts of filing false tax returns. He was also ordered to forfeit $110,620 in illicit drug proceeds and pay restitution of $124,547 in unpaid taxes to the IRS. According to the plea agreement, Carter, between 2015 and late 2021 conspired with others to distribute controlled substances, including oxycodone and hydrocodone. Carter worked as a pharmacist in charge at Midtown Pharmacy from 2018 through 2023.
Authorities say that the pharmacy ordered at least 80,000 more oxycodone pills than the pharmacy dispensed to patients. Carter diverted opioid pills from the pharmacy – and sold those pills to other drug distributors. He took distributor bottles from the pharmacy to his home, and repackaged the pills in plastic bags for resale. He admitted to earning some $450,000 in income – which he failed to report on his income tax returns.
According to the plea agreement, authorities found more than $110,000 in cash during a search warrant at his house – and, at the time of federal indictment Carter was a Gadsden City School board member, but he has since resigned.