Federal agents raid Fort Bend County home

(10/17/07 - FORT BEND COUNTY, TX) (KTRK) -- A Fort Bend County pharmacist is at the center of a federal drug investigation this evening, but no arrests have been made.

The DEA and IRS spent hours taking dozens of boxes out of the home on Long Shadow in the Greatwood subdivision.

The homeowner's attorney said the warrants served today were sealed.

"They've done nothing wrong," said Jenni Roberts, Plattenburg's Attorney. "They're honest people."

Roberts says authorities raided six pharmacies today as part of their investigation. She says John Plattenburg, the person who lived in the home, consulted for each of them, but any suggestion that he might have helped anyone get drugs, she says is untrue.

"That is totally false," she said. "There is no way he could have done that. He's not a doctor."

This was not Plattenburg's first brush with the law. He was convicted in 1985 of misdemeanor drug possession. Now, there are three new charges pending against him in Harris County for the manufacture and distribution of a controlled substance from an incident in May.

According to court documents, in that case police found:

2,658 grams of Xanax

1,131 grams of hydrocodone

50 grams oxycodone

His attorney in that case says he was transporting the medication to a pharmacy. The attorney went on to say he is innocent of any allegations related to that case.

Plattenburg had his pharmacist license suspended and probated for two years in 2002. After he, "failed to maintain the loss of a controlled substance." His license is now active despite the state felony charges lodged against him.

The state board of pharmacy says it doesn't usually yank a license until a person is actually convicted of a crime, but says in rare instances, it will launch an investigation at the request of local law enforcement.
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)

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