By Shawn Hogendorf, Staff Writer 

A 41-year-old Prior Lake man who is the owner of a pharmaceutical company that collects and disposes outdated, recalled or excess prescription drugs was sentenced today in federal court on Tuesday for selling Xanax and OxyContin.

Mark Andrew Goetz was sentenced to serve four years in prison on one count of distribution of controlled substances by United States District Court Judge James Rosenbaum. Goetz was indicted on May 20 and pleaded guilty on July 28.

Goetz owns Pharmaceutical Returns, a Northfield, Minnesota, company approved by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) as a reverse distributor of controlled substances.

The company is authorized to collect controlled substances, return them to drug companies for credit, or destroy them at approved incinerators, according to the United States Attorney’s Office. Goetz admitted that on Jan. 10, he sold 99 tablets of Xanax; and on May 6, he sold 245 tablets of Xanax and 1,274 tablets of OxyContin during a string operation in Minneapolis.

“Twenty-five percent of drug-related emergency room visits are associated with the abuse of prescription drugs,” said Gary G. Olenkiewicz, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Chicago Field Division, which includes Minnesota. “As a reverse distributor, Goetz had the responsibility to return controlled substances to the manufacturer or destroy them. Instead, he chose to make a profit from them on the black market, which makes him no different than a street dealer pushing cocaine or heroin.”

In January 2009, investigators learned Goetz was selling prescription drugs he acquired through his business.

As a result, law enforcement arranged a controlled buy of 99 Xanax tablets from Goetz on Jan. 10.

The transaction occurred at his home in the in the 4100 block of Eau Claire Trail. Then on May 6, law enforcement officers arranged a second controlled buy for 245 Xanax tablets and 1,274 OxyContin tablets in the parking lot of a south Minneapolis apartment complex. After the transaction, Goetz proceeded to leave the premises – and was stopped by authorities – who seized a small amount of a controlled substance and a laptop computer.

This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration; and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas M. Hollenhorst. 

Shawn Hogendorf can be reached at (952) 345-6374 or shogendorf@swpub.com.