KINGWOOD, Texas – A Houston-area physician has been sentenced to 12.5 years in federal prison after admitting she operated an illegal prescription scheme out of her Kingwood clinic that prosecutors say fueled the distribution of more than 3 million opioid pills.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Dr. Maryam Qayum, 68, of Montgomery County, was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty in March to conspiracy to unlawfully distribute controlled substances.
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Federal prosecutors said Qayum owned and operated Recare Health Clinic in Kingwood, where she served as the sole prescribing physician. Investigators said the clinic functioned as a cash-only operation that sold prescriptions for highly addictive opioid medications, including oxycodone and hydrocodone, to street-level drug dealers.
Authorities said the drug dealers, referred to by clinic staff as “providers,” paid cash for prescriptions that were often written without a legitimate medical purpose and, in many cases, without Qayum ever seeing or examining the patient.
According to court documents, Qayum issued prescriptions for more than 3 million opioid pills between 2022 and 2025 before law enforcement shut down the clinic.
Investigators said the clinic charged different prices depending on the street value of the drug. Court records show prescriptions for 30-milligram oxycodone sold for as much as $500, while hydrocodone prescriptions typically cost about $300. Staff members also allegedly accepted tips from drug dealers to speed up prescriptions.
Federal agents executing a search warrant at the clinic recovered a handwritten pricing list detailing cash costs for controlled substance prescriptions, prosecutors said.
Others connected to the case also sentenced
Four other people involved in the operation have also been sentenced:
- Melvin Sampson, 56, of Houston: Sentenced to 210 months in prison after admitting he recruited patients, filled prescriptions and resold the drugs on the black market.
- Tomi-Ko Bowers, 71, of Cleveland: Sentenced to 96 months in prison. She worked as a nurse practitioner at Recare.
- Lester Stokes, 38, of Houston: Sentenced to 63 months in prison. He served as the clinic’s security guard.
- Jared Williams, 49, of Pearland: Sentenced to 42 months in prison after admitting to unlawfully distributing controlled substances. He owned and operated Surge Rx, a pharmacy that prosecutors said filled illegitimate prescriptions issued by Qayum.
The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Conroe Police Department.
The case was prosecuted by the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.