[Federal Register: October 22, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 204)]
[Notices]
[Page 62092-62093]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22oc04-111]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
Ivan D. Garcia-Ramirez, M.D.; Revocation of Registration
On August 11, 2003, the Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of
Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), issued an
Order to Show Cause to Ivan D. Garcia-Ramirez, M.D. (Respondent),
proposing to evoke his DEA Certificate of Registration, BG2485173,
pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(2) and 824(a)(4). The Order to Show Cause
alleged that Respondent had been convicted of a felony related to
controlled substances and that his continued registration would be
inconsistent with the public interest.
By letter dated September 10, 2003, Respondent, through his
counsel, requested a hearing and on September 30, 2003, Presiding
Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner (Judge Bittner) issued the
Government, as well as Respondent, an Order for Prehearing Statements.
On October 2, 2003, the Government timely filed its prehearing
statement. However, Respondent failed to file a prehearing statement
and on December 5, 2003, Judge Bittner issued an Order Terminating
Proceedings, noting Respondent's lack of response was
[[Page 62093]]
considered a waiver of his right to hearing.
Therefore, the Deputy Administrator finds as follows: (1)
Respondent requested a hearing; (2) he was directed to file a
prehearing statement and cautioned that failure to comply with that
order could be considered a waiver of hearing and an implied withdrawal
of his request for hearing; and (3) Respondent failed to submit a
prehearing statement. The Deputy Administrator therefore concludes
Respondent is deemed to have waived his hearing right and, after
considering material from the investigative file in this matter, now
enters her final order without a hearing, pursuant to 21 CFR 1301.43(d)
and (e) and 1301.46.
Respondent is currently registered with DEA as a practitioner under
Certificate of Registration number BG2485173, at a registered location
in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. That registration expires on September 30,
2005.
According to information in the investigative file, in November
2001, Special Agents from the DEA San Juan Field Office received
information that the Sea Brave, a Puerto Rico registered vessel owned
by Respondent, may have been used in the trafficking of controlled
substances in St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles. The same information
was communicated to Dutch Customs, which placed a lookout for
Respondent's vessel.
On June 16, 2002, the Dutch Coast Guard observed the Sea Brave
outside the St. Maarten harbor channel. Dutch authorities instructed
the vessel return to the marina, inside St. Maarten territorial
waters,where it was boarded by Dutch authorities. At the time of
boarding, Respondent was on board, along with two others. Upon search
of the vessel by Dutch Customs officers, 549 grams of heroin were
recovered from a hidden compartment in the cabin area and all
individuals on board were arrested and taken to the St. Maarten Police
Station.
When questioned the next day, Respondent admitted being told by an
individual that at least nine kilograms of cocaine and six kilograms of
heroin had been placed on board the Sea Brave. Further he admitted
seeing an individual place two boxes and eighty pellets of suspected
heroin inside a hidden compartment, behind a television set on board
the vessel. Upon receipt of this information, Dutch Customs went back
on board the Sea Brave, which had been docked overnight at a nearby
pier. However, it was discovered that someone had apparently already
boarded the vessel and removed the television from its wall unit. A
hidden compartment behind the television was empty.
After negotiations between the United States Department of Justice
and the Dutch Government, it was concluded prosecutions would take
place in the United States District Court, District of Puerto Rico and
Respondent and his cohorts were indicted on charges of conspiring to
import more than one kilogram of heroin, a Schedule I Narcotic
Controlled Substance, and more than five kilograms of cocaine, a
Schedule II Narcotic Controlled Substance, in violation of 21 U.S.C.
952, 960 and 963. Respondent entered pleas of not guilty and was
detained pending trial at the Metropolitan Detention Center in
Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. On September 19, 2002, Respondent plead guilty
to one felony count of 21 U.S.C. 952(a), Possession With Intent To
Import Heroin. On May 16, 2003, he was sentenced to 20 months
incarceration and 60 months supervised release.
Pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 823(f) and 824(a)(4), the Deputy
Administrator may revoke a DEA Certification of Registration and deny
any pending applications for renewal of such registration, if she
determines that continued registration would be inconsistent with the
public interest. Section 823(f) requires that the following factors be
considered in determining the public interest:
(1) The recommendation of the appropriate state licensing board or
professional disciplinary authority.
(2) The applicant's experience in dispensing, or conducting
research with respect to controlled substances.
(3) The applicant's conviction record under federal or state laws
relating to the manufacture, distribution, or dispensing of controlled
substances.
(4) Compliance with applicable State, Federal, or local laws
relating to controlled substances.
(5) Such other conduct which may threaten the public health or
safety.
These factors are to be considered in the disjunctive; the Deputy
Administrator may rely on any one or a combination of factors and may
give each factor the weight she deems appropriate in determining
whether a registration should be revoked or an application for
registration denied. See Henry J. Schwartz, Jr., M.D., 54 FR 16,422
(1989).
It is undisputed that Respondent was convicted of Possession With
Intent to Import Heroin. Since Respondent's felony conviction related
to controlled substances, grounds exist to revoke his DEA registration
under 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(2). See William C. Potter, D.V.M., 65 FR 50,569
(2000).
Next, the Deputy Administrator considers whether Respondent's
continued registration would be inconsistent with the public interest.
In this case, the Deputy Administrator finds factors three, four and
five relevant in determining whether continuing Respondent's
registration would be inconsistent with the public interest.
As to factor one, the recommendation of the appropriate state
licensing board or professional disciplinary authority, there is no
evidence in the investigative file of action being taken against any
professional license of Respondent. With respect to factor two, his
experience in dispensing, or conducting research with respect to
controlled substances, there is no information in the investigative
file relative to Respondent's lawful handling of controlled substances
in his professional practice.
With regard to factors three, four and five, the Deputy
Administrator finds that Respondent, by his own admission, used his
vessel to knowingly transport cocaine and heroin and attempted to
conceal the drugs in a hidden compartment. He was then arrested and
convicted of Possession With Intent to Import Heroin. The egregious
nature of Respondent's conduct bears directly upon his fitness to
possess a DEA registration and, applying the above factors, leads to
the obvious conclusion that Respondent's continued registration would
be inconsistent with the public interest.
Accordingly, the Deputy Administrator of the Drug Enforcement
Administration, pursuant to the authority vested in her by 21 U.S.C.
823 and 824 and 28 CFR 0.100(b) and 0.104, hereby orders that DEA
Certificate of Registration, BG2485173, previously issued to Ivan D.
Garcia-Ramirez, be, and it hereby is, revoked. This order is effective
November 22, 2004.
Dated: October 5, 2004.
Michele M. Leonhart,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 04-23714 Filed 10-21-04; 8:45 am]
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