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Ex-dentist admits to illegally distributing prescription pills

A dental office in Portland. (KOIN)

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A 43-year-old West Linn man pleaded guilty Wednesday to illegally distributing and possessing controlled substances, including thousands of prescription drug pills and anabolic steroids.

Salwan Adjaj, who practiced endodontics in Sherwood, Clackamas and Portland, used his position to get the drugs from a pharmaceutical manufacturer, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Oregon.

Court documents revealed that Adjaj possessed and distributed the drugs between March 2016 to August 2020. The drugs distributed included Tramadol, anabolic steroids, injectable testosterone, Phendimetrazine, Diazepam, Alprazolam (Xanax), Lorazepam, Carisoprodol (Soma), Zolpidem and Promethazine.

His sentencing is scheduled for October 11 where he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a $500,000 fine and up to three years of supervised release.

Adjaj was also charged in December for fraudulently obtaining $8 million in COVID-19 relief funds and using is for personal expenses. He allegedly submitted dozens of fraudulent loan applications to the Small Business Administration starting in March 2021.

Further, the Oregon Board of Dentistry reprimanded him in 2015 for for failing to perform weekly tests of sanitization equipment at his practices in Sherwood and Portland. His license was then suspended in 2020 amid multiple allegations of misconduct.