PITTSBURGH A resident of Bulger, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to three years probation and the forfeiture of $1.75 million on his conviction of maintaining a drug involved premises and money laundering, Acting United States Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman announced today.
United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon imposed the sentence on Stephen K. Shaner.
According to information presented to the court, Shaner was the owner and operator of SKS Associates, Inc., a buprenorphine clinic located in Johnstown, Pa. Buprenorphine is a controlled substance that is prescribed to opioid addicted patients and is dispensed under the names of Suboxone, Subutex, and Zubsolv. Two of the doctors employed at SKS Associates prescribed buprenorphine outside the course of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose. On many instances the doctors did not see or physically examine the patients they were treating and the patients were given pre-signed prescriptions