DENVER — A former Colorado doctor who resided in Manhattan was sentenced to seven years in prison by a federal judge in Colorado last week, for illegally distributing controlled substances and money laundering.
John Littleford, 73, will spend 87 months at a yet to be announced federal prison and will be placed on three years of post-release supervision. A U.S. Attorney’s Office report from the District of Colorado says Littleford prescribed large amounts of opioids to patients without a diagnosis or with little documentation. The report says Dr. Littleford owned and operated a clinic in Parker, Colorado and held himself out as a practitioner in the field of “pain management” although he had no certification in that field. A Denver media outlet reported Littleford was arrested in April 2016 at his Manhattan home. It’s unclear why he moved to Manhattan. A search of The Kansas Board of Healing Arts website shows no medical license for Littleford in Kansas.
The Drug Enforcement agency opened a criminal investigation into Dr. Littleford in February 2012 after numerous doctors and pharmacists in the Denver area expressed concerns about the prescribing practices they were seeing. Littleford pleaded guilty to distributing controlled substances after prescribing one patient 840 oxycodone 30 milligram tablets, 360 Percocet tablets and several other opioids. His notes for that patient included a diagnosis that listed a question mark. The patient died a month later from oxycodone toxicity.
Littleford also pleaded guilty and was sentenced for money laundering in order to promote his illegal distribution of controlled substances through his clinic.
