[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 204 (Friday, October 22, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62092-62093]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-23714]


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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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