Mequon Doctor Sentenced to Federal Prison for Unlawful Prescribing
Brad D. Schimel, First Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on October 1, 2026, United States District Judge Lynn Adelman sentenced Jerry Jones III (age 69), a former emergency room physician from Mequon, Wisconsin, to 27 months’ imprisonment.
On June 29, 2026, Jones pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose. The charges stem from Jones’s unlawful prescribing of controlled substances between 2021 and 2025. According to court records, during that period, Jones operated a medical clinic from his residence in which he purported to provide addiction treatment via telehealth.
Rather than providing legitimate addiction treatment to his patients, Jones prescribed buprenorphine (meant to treat opioid addiction), benzodiazepines (meant to treat anxiety), and stimulants (meant to treat ADHD) in exchange for cash, without a demonstration of medical necessity. Jones charged more money for higher dosages and based on the number of prescriptions he issued. As part of his operation of the pill mill he disguised as a medical practice, Jones received $294,850.72 through CashApp and Venmo from his drug customers.
Jones was aware, while he was engaging in this conduct, that he was not providing legitimate medical care and that at least some of the people to whom he was prescribing dangerous controlled substances were selling them on the street.
At the sentencing hearing, Judge Adelman said that Jones’s “patients were more like customers” who “ordered drugs at specific dosages” and that Jones was not engaged in the legitimate practice of medicine. Judge Adelman discussed Jones’s thirty-nine years of lawful medical practice and his voluntary surrender of his medical license as demonstrating that Jones no longer posed a danger to the community. However, Judge Adelman also noted that a prison sentence was important punishment because of the serious nature of the offense and the need to deter other medical professionals who may be tempted to engage in similar unlawful prescribing practices.
“We trust our medical professionals to use their license and the authority granted to them to do only what is safe and in the best interests of their patient,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Schimel. “This defendant abused that trust and contributed significantly to the deadly drug epidemic afflicting our communities by selling dangerous drugs for cash. Like any other illegal drug trafficker, he belongs in prison for such conduct.”
“Medical professionals are entrusted with the health and safety of their patients, and that trust comes with an enormous responsibility,” said DEA Milwaukee Assistant Special Agent in Charge John G. McGarry. “DEA will continue working with our federal, state and local partners to identify those who divert controlled substances and hold them accountable.”
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration – Diversion Control Division. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Julie F. Stewart.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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