Pill mill case against former firefighters set to move forward
The case against two former Pompano Beach firefighters accused of running a pill mill operation is back on track after an appeals court ruled that police can step outside their jurisdictions to obtain search warrants in certain cases.
Lewis Stouffer, of Coconut Creek, and Craig Turturo, of Boca are accused of running pill mills across Florida. They were charged in 2012 after an investigation that began in Vero Beach. The case is being prosecuted in Indian River County by the statewide prosecutor’s office.
Circuit Judge Cynthia Cox stalled the case last summer, determining that lead investigator Eric Flowers should have recruited Broward and Palm Beach County law enforcement before going before local judges to obtain search warRaton, rants. Investigators said they found evidence connecting the men and others, to alleged pill mills in Vero Beach, Deerfield Beach, Miami, Gainesville, Daytona Beach, Fort Myers and Jacksonville.
The Fourth District appeal overturned her last week.
In addition to the investigators phone calls, Court of decision
search warrants, used intercepted undercover visits and confidential informants, identifying the network accused of liberally dispensing bulk quantities of drugs such as Oxycodone, Roxicodone, Percocet, Xanax and Valium, according to the federal Drug Enforcement administration.
Stouffer was accused of being the mastermind of the operation that investigators claim dispensed