Reno doctor faces up to 20 years after guilty opioid plea

RENO — A 51-year-old Nevada doctor faces a maximum of up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to illegally distribute opioids.

Eric Math of Reno changed his earlier plea of not guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Reno.

A federal grand jury indicted Math and seven co-defendants on charges unsealed in May related to distribution of hydrocodone and oxycodone in the Reno area between October 2018 and May 2019.

The others are scheduled to go to trial May 12.

Court records say evidence gathered partly through the use of federal wiretaps showed Math wrote the prescriptions outside the course of his professional practice for illegitimate medical purposes.

Prosecutors say the co-conspirators filled the prescriptions and gave some of the pills to one of the suspects from Richmond, California.

They say Math often was paid in cash and that he also wrote prescriptions for himself, then had a co-conspirator fill them for him.

The investigation involved the FBI, IRS, state officers, Nevada Gaming Control Board, Carson City Sheriff’s Office and police from Reno, Sparks and the University of Nevada, Reno.

In addition to prison time, Math faces up to a $250,00 fine and a lifetime of supervised release at his sentencing scheduled June 1.