LECANTO, Fla. — Citrus County deputies arrested several people as part of what the sheriff called a large-scale drug trafficking investigation involving the distribution of at least 3.4 million pills.
The four-year-long investigation began after the Citrus County Sheriff's Office learned Tri-County Medical Center LLC, located on West Gulf to Lake Highway in Crystal River, was operating as an illegal pain-management clinic. Through the business, Sheriff Mike Prendergast alleged, just over 39,900 controlled substances prescriptions were written.
Many of those included opioid-based medications.
"The amount of oxycodone and methadone alone that we seized could kill more than 1.2 million people here in the state of Florida, which is more than seven times the size of Citrus County's population," Prendergast said during a news conference Thursday morning.
Deputies arrested 46-year-old Ernest Scriven, the medical center's owner-operator, on several charges including racketeering and drug trafficking. The sheriff's office alleges he conspired with an employee, 35-year-old Kendra Johnson, to send prescriptions to pharmacies across the state for people who never were patients and did not see a doctor.
In turn, according to Prendergast, they would receive cash payments from buyers for those illegal prescriptions. Undercover agents from the Citrus County Sheriff's Office and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration secured prescriptions without visiting the facility and were able to obtain the drugs.
"If you think you can get away with that in Citrus County, you better think twice," Prendergast said.
Johnson faces several charges, including trafficking in oxycodone.
"The script was flipped on June 12, 2024, when multiple search warrants were served across the county," Prendergast said. "One at the Tri-County Medical Center in Crystal River and another at Ernest Bernard Scriven's residence in Lecanto."
The sheriff said one search warrant at Scriven's home led to the discovery of additional drugs, firearms and documents that linked his criminal activity at the medical facility. Another search of storage units rented by Scriven uncovered multiple cars, trailers, marijuana and other evidence, he added.
Some 160 firearms were seized at one storage unit, which Prendergast said was linked to a 2019 burglary in Hernando County. Thirty-seven-year-old David Henriquez, an associate of Scriven, is believed to have been connected to that crime, and he was arrested for drug trafficking and firearm theft charges.
"This is a classic pill mill on steroids," Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said during the conference. "Don't forget, at one point, Florida was known as the pill mill capital of the United States, and we did a lot to change that."
Deputies said they also arrested Scriven's sister, 44-year-old Shalena Scriven, for drug trafficking after, she too, received oxycodone and methadone prescriptions through the medical center despite having never seen a doctor.
Prendergast said he expects the investigation to continue and encourages anyone who might know anything to call the sheriff's office at 352-249-2790.