Federal judge issues gag order in ‘Rock Doc’ case

JACKSON, Tenn. — The end is nowhere close for three medical professionals charged in a federal opioid crackdown earlier this year.

Nurse practitioner Jeff Young, known as the “Rock Doc,” and two of his previous supervising physicians, Alexander Alperovich and Andrew Rudin, appeared before Judge J. Daniel Breen in U.S. District Court in Jackson on Wednesday.

Because of all the evidence both the prosecution and defense are going through, the court is having trouble setting up future hearing dates and deadlines for new evidence.

Prosecutor Andrew Pennebaker said they are still conducting interviews on a “rolling basis.” Alperovich’s attorney said, “We’re still trying to digest what we have.”

Judge Breen told attorneys that, if they couldn’t work out a date for evidence to be submitted to the court, that he would set a date for them.

During the hearing, Young’s attorney, Claiborne Ferguson, requested a change of venue and asked the hearings and pending trial be moved to Memphis. Ferguson cited numerous news stories about Young’s arrest, coverage of the federal hearings, and even U.S. Attorney Michael Dunavant’s Twitter account.

Court documents show Dunavant retweeted local news outlets’ articles about Young, specifically an article in which Young is accused of prescribing opioids to West Tennessee police officers without exams.

In response, Judge Breen issued a gag order, banning attorneys on both sides from speaking about the case publicly.

“I’m telling all of you that I want this to stop,” Judge Breen said.

But the change of venue motion has not been decided, as the three defense attorneys could not agree on the move. Breen said he would stay with the case if the change of venue were granted.