East Tennessee pill mill doctor sentenced to nearly 6 years in prison

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – A doctor who authorities say wrote thousands of prescriptions for a Maryville pill mill has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison.

News outlets report that a Knoxville federal judge sentenced 47-year-old James Brian Joyner on Thursday to a 70-month prison term.

Joyner is the first of eight medical professionals who worked at the clinic during its operation in 2009-10 to be sentenced on drug conspiracy charges. The clinic was among the first in eastern Tennessee to be shut down by authorities.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Dale said Joyner violated his patients’ trust by indiscriminately prescribing high doses of dangerous, addictive painkillers without even examining them.

The clinic’s owners, Sandra and Randy Kincaid, are already serving 39-year and 69-year prison sentences, respectively.

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