Former GF doctor to plead guilty

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — The lawyer for a former Grand Forks doctor accused in an Internet prescription fraud case has said his client didn't know he was breaking the law and that he paid taxes on money he received for pill permits.

Enrique Rivera Mass, 56, has signed an agreement to plead guilty on a federal charge of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. Authorities say he illegally signed off on prescriptions for nearly 1.8 million pills that were sold online.

Court documents show that Rivera Mass became involved with Internet pharmacies several years ago in his native Puerto Rico and continued while he was working at the Center for Psychiatric Care in Grand Forks between January 2007 and April 2009. He has since returned to Puerto Rico.

Defense attorney Jose Barreto-Rampolla of San Juan, Puerto Rico, said in a telephone interview that Rivera Mass wasn't clear about laws on Internet pharmacies.

“I think a lot of doctors are uneducated about that,” Barreto-Rampolla

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