Dentist in Islip Terrace charged in scheme to prescribe painkillers to his wife and her friends

An Islip Terrace dentist was charged Tuesday with conspiring to distribute prescription painkillers for his wife and two of her friends.

John Gordon, 48, who has an office on Carleton Avenue, was released on a $50,000 bond after appearing before a magistrate in U.S. District Court in Central Islip.

His wife, Carla, 36, also was charged with illegal distribution of the painkillers. She was released on a $50,000 bond signed in court by her mother.

An affidavit submitted in court said that a woman, Jane Doe No. 1, contacted local authorities in Suffolk County early last year to claim that the Gordons were conspiring to distribute controlled substances.

The Drug Enforcement Administration found that the dentist had issued 17 prescriptions for oxycodone, two for hydrocodone and two for diazepam -- all painkillers -- to his wife between January 2012 and October 2014, the affidavit said.

The dentist told DEA agents that his wife had "neck issues" from a car accident and was not getting the medication she wanted from her doctor, the affidavit said.

The court papers also included allegations that he told the agents his wife often asked him to provide prescriptions for two of her friends.

One of the those women, Jane Doe No. 2, later told agents that she bought painkillers from Carla Gordon on 50 occasions and that "on multiple occasions" Carla Gordon would get her husband to call in prescriptions to a drugstore for the woman, according to the affidavit, which also included allegations the woman would give half the pills to the dentist's wife. John Gordon wrote 1,434 prescriptions for 28,680 hydrocodone pills, the court papers said, and 171 prescriptions for 3,400 oxycodone pills between January 2012 and February 2014.

"In my experience, this is an exceedingly large quantity of controlled substances for a dentist to issue in the relevant time period," DEA Special Agent Brian O'Keefe, a 16-year-veteran, said in the affidavit.

The Gordons did not enter a plea during their brief court appearance and left without commenting.