Executives from a Rochester pharmaceutical company were named in an indictment released Tuesday. The indictment included the first-ever criminal charges against drug company executives for the diversion of opioids.

Rochester based drug company named in federal investigation

Company accused of supplying controlled substances to people with no medical need

Company settled and will pay $20 million over five years to federal government

The U.S. Attorney of Southern District of New York announced charges against Rochester Drug Co-Operative, its former CEO Laurence Doud III, and former chief of compliance William Pietruszewski for the illegal diversion of narcotics.

According to court documents, Rochester Drug Co-Operative was a wholesale distributor of pharmaceutical products, including controlled substances. The business, headquartered in Rochester, was one of the nation's largest distributors of pharmaceutical products with more than 1,300 customers and more than $1 billion in revenue per year.

The U.S. Attorney in Manhattan announces significant charges against a Rochester based company in a first of its kind case alleging the unlawful distribution of oxycodone and fentanyl. @SDNYnews @SPECNewsROC pic.twitter.com/EhPOx5oHZ5 — Wendy Wright (@WendyWrightTV) April 23, 2019

Court documents stated the company distributed dangerous, highly addictive opioids to pharmacy customers that company officials knew were being sold and used illicitly, and supplied large quantities of oxycodone, fentanyl, and other dangerous opioids to customers who had no legitimate medical need.

Charges included narcotics conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and failure to file suspicious order reports.

Officials from Rochester Drug Co-Operative said they reached a civil and criminal settlement for failing to properly identify and report suspicious drug orders. As a result of the settlement, the company will pay a $20 million fine to the federal government over a five year period, and if complied, the company would not be further prosecuted.

“We accept responsibility for those mistakes," said Rochester Drug Co-Operative spokesperson Jeff Eller in a press release. "We can do better, we are doing better, and we will do better.”

The company will retain its DEA registration and authority to distribute controlled substances as part of the settlement, but agreed to three years of independent compliance monitoring.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office is not directly involved in the investigation, but Undersheriff Korey Brown says this is a new level of drug dealing.

"You never thought a company would be a different level drug dealer but that exactly what they were becoming: a large scale drug dealer to the community and they were caught and being charged," Brown said.