SANTA ANA (CNS) – A San Fernando Valley man prosecutors said operated corrupt medical clinics was sentenced Wednesday, April 8, to 18 years in federal prison for his role in a drug trafficking ring that sold thousands of illegal opioid prescriptions for cash.
Justin Douglas Cozart, 48, of Woodland Hills, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Following a five-day trial, a federal jury in February 2025 found him guilty of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and concealment money laundering.
Prosecutors said Cozart operated several Southern California medical clinics where co-conspirators sent sham patients to obtain oxycodone prescriptions, including locations in Inglewood, Santa Ana and Anaheim.
Cozart was accused of employing doctors, including John Korzelius, 74, of Long Beach, who allegedly issued prescriptions for the patients.
Recruiters paid Cozart for the fraudulent prescriptions, then took the patients to pharmacies to fill them before consolidating the pills and shipping them to the Boston area for sale on the black market, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
On two occasions in 2018, law enforcement intercepted parcels containing the pills, prosecutors said.
In late 2019, Korzelius also issued prescriptions for high-dose oxycodone to an undercover officer posing as a patient without conducting a physical exam, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“Cozart was a primary, illegal source of supply of oxycodone, a dangerous and frequently abused drug, for an organization that was shipping thousands of pills across the country for sale,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “He converted otherwise lawful chiropractic clinics into drug trafficking businesses, and pulled their existing employees … into his scheme.”
Korzelius pleaded guilty in February 2025 to conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and is scheduled to be sentenced June 8.