POLK COUNTY, Fla. – Polk County deputies arrested a Winter Haven doctor after their investigation revealed he was writing prescriptions for hydrocodone in exchange for methamphetamines, authorities said.
Deputies arrested 61-year-old Gregory Gooden after an investigation that started back in June.
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Between February and June, Gooden wrote five prescriptions to Dennis Holt, who exchanged meth and money for the hydrocodone, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies said Gooden did not conduct a medical history, a physical or any other type of exam for treatment prior to writing the prescriptions for the drugs. Hold told detectives he has personally observed Gooden writing prescriptions from within his home, and had witnessed Gooden injecting meth.
Gooden has been a registered doctor in Florida since 1987, specializing in cardiology. Upon his arrest, Gooden told detectives he is no longer practicing, deputies said.
During the investigation, deputies said they spoke to a woman who was arrested for stealing Gooden's car. She was already in jail for the crime.
Deputies said the woman, Michelle Gilbertson, was put in touch with Gooden, who friended her on Facebook after she had no medical insurance.
Gooden said he would write her prescriptions and she only paid for one. Deputies said Gilbertson and Gooden would drink and smoke marijuana at his home.
Detectives obtained an arrest warrant and responded to Gooden's home in Winter Haven, and placed him under arrest without incident.
Deputies said Gooden was arrested for trafficking in illegal substances and obtaining a controlled substance.
"This guy must have been high when he decided to write prescriptions from his home in exchange for meth. He also smoked marijuana with one of his 'patients,' whom he later had arrested for stealing his car. You just can't make this stuff up," said Sheriff Grady Judd.