Vero Beach doctor Johnny Benjamin's federal drug trial begins with emphasis on overdose

FORT LAUDERDALE — "M.C."

The initials scrawled on an easel in the center of a federal courtroom in Fort Lauderdale represent the heart of the case facing Vero Beach doctor Johnny Benjamin.

"M.C." is Maggie Crowley, the 34-year-old woman who overdosed on furanyl fentanyl in Palm Beach County in 2016, launching a yearlong federal investigation that would result in drug-trafficking charges against Benjamin and two men who claimed Benjamin was their supplier.

The drug Crowley took was a small, round, blue pill meant to resemble Oxycodone, when it was actually furanyl fentanyl — a powerful synthetic opioid that can be 50 times more potent than heroin, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

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Benjamin’s attorney, Donnie Murrell, wrote the woman’s initials during his opening statement when a 14-person jury convened Friday before District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas in the first day of Benjamin’s trial on seven federal drug charges.

In the audience sat Crowley’s family, emotional at times. Her husband, Shaun Crowley, was one of the first witnesses called, sitting in the row behind his late wife’s parents when his testimony ended.

Maggie Crowley was described Friday as a “beautiful soul” who began taking prescription painkillers after injuring her back at a concert and possibly slipped into the grips of opioid addiction before her untimely death.

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Opening statements

Murrell used his opening statements to portray the government’s case as shaky and relying on untrustworthy witnesses. He said the two men claiming they bought the pills from Benjamin that eventually reached Crowley lied to entrap Benjamin and save themselves from lengthy prison sentences.

"Lying is what drug dealers do every day," Murrell said

The name of Kevan Slater, 29, who said he sold the pills to Crowley, was written above "M.C." on the easel.

Above that, Murrell wrote Zachary Stewart’s name. Stewart, who is in his mid-30s, told investigators he gave the pills to Slater after getting them from Benjamin.

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Slater and Stewart, who both live in Palm Beach County, pleaded guilty this month to charges of conspiring to distribute the furanyl fentanyl that killed Crowley, as well as conspiring to possess and distribute other synthetic opioids throughout 2016.

The previously confidential informants helped the DEA build a case against Benjamin, 52, an orthopedic surgeon who practiced at Pro Spine Center in Vero Beach.

Benjamin’s name was written atop the other three. But Murrell argued that all the evidence prosecutors had showed Stewart offering Benjamin drugs, which didn’t match their portrayal of him as the head of their operation.

"When they labeled him 'target,' they got tunnel vision," Murrell said. "They didn’t ask Stewart. They told him … 'Help us get that man.'"

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Benjamin appeared Friday in a dark suit. He wore glasses throughout most of the day, making notes as he sat inscrutable between Murrell and Vero Beach attorney Andy Metcalf.

Benjamin was denied release before trial, spending the majority of time since his October arrest by the Indian River County Sheriff's Office in a federal detention center in Miami.

Opposite the defense in the wood-paneled courtroom were assistant U.S. attorneys John McMillan and Rolando Garcia and DEA special agent Michael Buemi.

McMillan used his opening statements to paint Benjamin as a greedy, dangerous individual, laying out for the jury the wealth of evidence and testimony prosecutors plan to present, which will include 44 government witnesses and more than 100 exhibits.

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Testimony

Prosecutors began to present their case after opening statements ended. Seven witnesses were called to the stand and dozens of evidence exhibits — including photographs of Crowley’s dead body, the pills found in her apartment and the cache of weapons seized from Benjamin’s Vero Beach home after his October arrest — were displayed on screens for the jury’s inspection.

Most of Friday's testimony was from Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputies and crime scene investigators. The toxicologist from the lab that analyzed her blood gave expert analysis, but the most riveting testimonies were from Crowley's husband and her source of pills.

Shaun Crowley, 38, met his wife in their home state of New York before moving to Palm Beach County in 2014 after marrying the same year.

"We were basically inseparable up until her death," Shaun Crowley said.

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He said she hurt her back at a country music concert in Syracuse, and had been prescribed Oxycodone to treat the pain. She was prescribed Tramadol after moving to Florida, but Shaun Crowley said the effect wasn’t as strong, which led her to take multiple doses to alleviate her pain.

This resulted in her running out and turning to another source for pain medications at the end of the month. The other source, he said, was Kevan Slater.

Slater, who worked with Maggie Crowley at Outback Steakhouse in Royal Palm Beach, said he sold her pills three times.

But the pills Slater gave her were different, “off” somehow, Shaun Crowley said. In June 2016, he said the medication left her nodding off, which scared him.

"She was almost like a zombie, just out of it," he said. "I told her, 'I don't think you know what you're messing with here.'"

Shaun Crowley found his wife dead on the floor in their Wellington bedroom late Sept. 1, 2016. After clocking out from his second job, he greeted her about 9:15 p.m., then went downstairs to have dinner and start a load of laundry. When he came back upstairs after half an hour, something was clearly wrong.

"Her face was blotchy, her lips were purple, her fingertips were purple," he recalled.

As their roommate called 911, Shaun Crowley attempted CPR, but she was never revived.

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During cross-examination, Shaun Crowley was shown notes from a meeting with law enforcement in December 2016 in which he was reported to have said his wife was addicted, buying pills on the street and getting payday loans to support her drug habit.

Shaun Crowley said he did not recall making those statements, although a Palm Beach County deputy said he did. The meeting was not recorded.

In the same meeting, Shaun Crowley gave Slater up.

When he was first contacted by agents from the DEA and Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, Slater fainted. He eventually agreed to cooperate and recorded a number of interactions with his supplier, Stewart, who was purportedly getting drugs from Benjamin.

"I had to tell the story. I had to tell them what happened," Slater said.

Slater said he met Stewart in summer 2015, shortly after his release from prison after being convicted for trafficking opioids. Stewart told him he was getting quality counterfeit Oxycodone pills from Benjamin and offered him 20 pills to try out, Slater said.

"He wanted feedback on the pills. He wanted to know how good they were," Slater said.

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They were similar to Oxycodone, he said, but slightly different in size and color, and had an easily rubbed-off imprint. He knew they were illegitimate.

"These pills were basically being distributed as testers, with human guinea pigs, to see how they would react to furanyl fentanyl," McMillan said.

After selling Maggie Crowley 20 counterfeit oxycodone pills, he texted her the day of her death to warn her about the pills' strength. Half works for me, she replied, in the last message he received from her.

Prosecutors finished questioning Slater as the court recessed about 4:45 p.m. Cross-examination by the defense will begin Monday morning.

The trial is expected to last through the week, with testimony from Stewart, Benjamin's wife and Vero Beach pharmacists and medical professionals on the prosecutors' schedule. The defense's case will begin afterward.

If convicted, Benjamin could face life in prison.

Stewart and Slater have sentencing hearings scheduled for June 22. They are expected to receive leniency in sentencing for their cooperation, but both could also receive life sentences.