The owner and operator of a former Grosse Pointe Park pharmacy has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison after being convicted of filling forged prescriptions for controlled substances over several years in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Hasna Bashir Iwas, 62, of New Baltimore, who owned and operated the former Beacon Pointe Pharmacy, was sentenced this week to 100 months in federal prison, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office release and court records.
She was convicted by a federal jury in November on 26 charges related to unlawful distribution of controlled substances and conspiracy to unlawfully distribute prescription drug controlled substances.
As part of her sentence, she was ordered to forfeit $781,547 — money that federal prosecutors said she received from the illegal distribution of pills from the pharmacy, according to the release and court records.
William Broman, one of Iwas’ attorneys, had no comment Friday.
Iwas was sentenced Wednesday. A day later, her attorneys filed a motion asking the court to grant her bond pending appeal. After the verdict, she was remanded to the U.S. Marshals Service, which assigned her to the custody of the Livingston County Jail, according to the defense’s sentencing memorandum.
In their recent bond motion, Iwas’ attorneys state she was on unsecured bond for two years without incident pending her trial, poses no threat of danger to the community or flight risk, and had no prior contact with law enforcement. They added she “cannot now, and perhaps can never again, practice pharmacy.”
Federal prosecutors said the crimes occurred between 2013 and 2018. Iwas regularly filled forged prescriptions, including by a local doctor, Otis Crawford. They said Crawford was charged with unlawfully writing controlled substance prescriptions and pleaded guilty, but died of natural causes before his sentencing.
300,000 doses of drugs worth millions
Prosecutors previously said Crawford and other defendants were accused in 2021 of operating a prescription drug ring in Detroit, Grosse Pointe Park, River Rouge and elsewhere.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office release stated Iwas was held criminally responsible for distributing more than 300,000 doses of controlled substances with an estimated street value of $1.8 million to $3.3 million.
The prosecutor’s sentencing memorandum states Iwas owned a waterfront home with a private boat well and owned a Mercedes, though it was not new. They wrote that she made the vast majority of her income from the scheme, the Crawford “pill mill” and the missing drugs.
“The true character of the defendant is revealed by her decision to support her lifestyle by fueling the street market. She endangered the lives of people desperate enough to buy pills on the street market. Her greed made her willing to profit from the misery and addiction of less fortunate people,” federal prosecutors wrote.
In their sentencing memorandum, Iwas’ attorneys said their client “was not a convicted drug felon or an admitted member of a dangerous and notorious Detroit street gang as were others in this case.”
“Ms. Iwas did not live the high life of a drug kingpin, but rather cared for people and gave her time freely to her family and those who needed her assistance. She was not a saint; she made naïve mistakes in judgment, and while she was generous, she was also a darn poor judge of character,” they wrote.
By Christina Hall, Detroit Free Press
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.
Tags: Arrests Drug Trafficking Healthcare Fraud Medically Unnecessary Opioid Crisis Pill Mills
