Ihsaan al-AminIhsaan Al-Amin, 64, was sentenced on Monday to 100 months in prison followed by two years of supervised released for tax evasion and for illegally dispensing controlled substances at the O'Neil Pain Clinic in Chattanooga until 2010.
Al-Amin pleaded guilty to both charges in in November 2013.
Federal agents arrested Al-Amin in 2012 after an investigation revealed that he had illegally prescribed thousands of of pills containing opiates and didn't report all the income from the pills on his tax returns, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Bill Killian.
The bust was part of a broader crackdown against so-called "pill-mills," in which licensed doctors dispense prescription drugs for cash, especially addictive painkillers, often without a legitimate medical necessity.
"We continue to prosecute medical professionals who, by their acts, contribute to the prescription drug problems in Tennessee," Killian said. "Those specially trained in the field of medicine know the effects of their illegal acts regarding prescription drugs."
The joint investigation involved the Internal Revenue Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Hamilton County Sheriff's Office and Tennessee State Health Related Boards.
Mark Gwyn, director of the TBI, said the investigation was time and labor-intensive, but "it is rewarding to see that a doctor who has violated the trust of his patients, and the community as a whole, is getting the message that these actions will not be tolerated. We will pursue them the same way we pursue street traffickers."