Connecticut doctor charged in four-year, multi-million opioid prescription scheme tried to hire Hell's Angels to silence a 'mic'd up' witness, feds say

A 'very mild mannered' Connecticut doctor concerned about a witness putting him in prison for running a four-year prescription scam tried to recruit the Hell's Angels to 'take care of' the witness, federal officials charged. 

It's unclear how much Anatoly Braylovsky made off the scheme, but Medicare said in a July 2021 lawsuit that it paid more than $4.34million in prescriptions prescribed by Braylovsky over the four years. 

He said the five days that he spent in a New Haven jail before his pretrial release last July was 'the worst five days of his life,' according to a federal indictment. 

He was specifically worried about a 'guy who was mic'd up' testifying at his upcoming trial, according to court documents.  

Determined not to go back to jail, he contacted an unnamed person who Braylovsky believed was the brother of a Hell's Angels president and allegedly said 'this guy's gotta go.' 

A Connecticut doctor is accused of trying to recruit the Hell's Angels to 'take care of' a witness in a federal prescription scheme

An excerpt of the federal indictment against Braylovsky

Instead of calling his brother, the unnamed person - identified in court documents as 'CC1' - called the FBI. 

The FBI slipped in an undercover officer, who confirmed Braylovsky's plan in a recorded conversation on August 24. 

The conversation was outlined in the indictment against Braylovsky and showed he was nervous, skeptical and wanted to talk to 'CC1's' brother. 

But the undercover agent concluded that Braylovsky planned to arrange a hit on the witness. 

Three days after the conversation - August 27 - Braylovsky was arrested and charged with in federal court with endeavoring to obstruct the due administration of justice. 

The Wallingford, Connecticut physician - in the New Haven area - was already facing federal charges of possession with intent to distribute and distribution of a controlled substance, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute a controlled substance, health care fraud and making false statements relating to health care matters. 

Braylovsky was accused of running a prescription scheme between January 2016 and April 2020 where he allegedly 'prescribed unusually large quantities of oxycodone, Adderall and Xanax to many patients.'

In a July 2021 civil lawsuit to recover proceeds, Medicare/Medicaid said it paid more than $4.34million in prescriptions prescribed by Braylovsky over that time and another $386,975 for office visits. 

'Patients were using their Medicaid or Medicare insurance to pay for the medically unnecessary prescriptions that were in turn being sold for profit,' Medicare said in the civil action. 

Braylovsky was accused of running a prescription scheme between January 2016 and April 2020 where he allegedly 'prescribed unusually large quantities of oxycodone, Adderall and Xanax to many patients'

In a civil lawsuit, Medicare said it paid more than $4.34 million in medications for Braylovsky over the alleged four-year scheme

There appeared to be genuine surprise from colleagues and patients about the Connecticut doctor's June 2020 arrest, according to court documents. 

According to court documents, he's been an internal medicine physician who has operated the Family Practice of Greater New Haven for about 20 years. 

He was described in pretrial release documents in 2020 - before the allegations of arranging to silence a witness came to light - by people who knew him as a 'gentle soul,' 'trustworthy,' 'respected in the community' and 'very mild mannered,' among other flattering traits. 

The indictment doesn't specifically say how much Braylovsky made off the alleged scam, but court documents include a federal undercover agent's recorded interactions with Braylovksy. 

Those recorded conversations allegedly that proved the doctor sold him oxycodone prescriptions for $1,600 without performing a medical exam, court documents say. 

It's unclear if the undercover agent was the 'mic'd up' witness that Braylovsky was concerned about.