Nurse Practitioner and Business Partner Guilty of Distribution of Controlled Substances

On August 13, 2021, Lisa Hofschulz, a licensed nurse practitioner, and Robert Hofschulz, both owners and operators of Clinical Pain Consultants (“CPC”), were convicted of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and unlawful distribution of controlled substances. Lisa Hofschulz also was convicted of unlawful distribution of controlled substances resulting in death.

The evidence presented at trial established Lisa and Robert Hofschulz ran CPC as a “pill mill” through which they distributed millions of opioids and other controlled substances throughout 2015 and 2016. The evidence showed that Lisa Hofschulz prescribed opioids and other dangerous controlled substances to 99% of patients, each of whom paid $200 per month for their prescriptions.

The evidence also established that Lisa and Robert Hofschulz distributed controlled substances outside the usual course of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose, including by mailing prescriptions to favored patients and prescribing to customers who were not seen by a medical provider. For at least one patient, Lisa Hofschulz’s prescriptions resulted in death. During 2015 and 2016, Lisa Hofschulz was the number one prescriber of oxycodone and methadone in Wisconsin, as compared to all Medicaid providers.

Both defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on November 2, 2021. Lisa Hofschulz faces a maximum life term of imprisonment and a mandatory minimum of 20 years of imprisonment.

The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case with the assistance of the Internal Revenue Service, Division of Criminal Investigations. Assistant United States Attorneys Julie F. Stewart and Laura S. Kwaterski prosecuted the case.