Former JMCSS school board candidate facing charges in Texas ‘pill mill’ investigation

JACKSON, Tenn. — Tameka Noel, who ran for a position on the Jackson-Madison County School Board, is facing federal charges following a federal investigation into a Texas “pill mill.”

Noel, 36, is one of 49 individuals named in a criminal complaint in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, following allegations that she assisted in the narcotics-pushing operation.

According to the complaint, the alleged “pill mill” ran from at least August 2011 through this year. The complaint says Noel, who is licensed to prescribe narcotics in multiple states including Tennessee and Texas, used her licensing to prescribe narcotics to patients from at least August 2014 through February 2020.

According to the complaint, Noel’s Texas clinic only accepted new patients through “recruiters.”

The complaint identifies Noel as an anesthesiologist in Jackson. The Texas Secretary of State database shows Noel listed as a management member of Urban Medical Clinic, PLLC., but investigators never saw Noel at the clinic, according to the complaint.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the northern district of Texas, the defendants are all accused of participating in an $18 million pill mill scheme, and all are charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s office says  Noel is accused of writing prescriptions for more than more than 200,000 doses of hydrocodone, 55,000 doses of carisoprodol, 14,000 doses of alprazolam, and 450,000 doses of promethazine with codeine.

If convicted, the defendants face up to 20 years in federal prison.