Three Michigan men, including one from Dearborn, have been charged in the largest illegal pill distribution scheme in the history of southeast Michigan.

United States Attorney Terrence S. Berg announced the unsealing of a criminal complaint charging a medical business owner, a doctor and a pharmacist with conspiring to unlawfully distribute controlled substances as prescription drugs, including the drug OxyContin.

The defendants accused in the complaint are George Williams, age 50 of Detroit, who ran the health care business Quick Response Medical Professionals; Dr. Milagros Ebreo, M.D., 68 of Port Sanliac; and Mahmoud Fardous, 28 of Dearborn and a pharmacist.

The supporting affidavit alleges that between March 2007 and December 2008, the defendants obtained more than 200,000 dosage units of the potent pain killer OxyContin, valued at over $5 million on the retail market. As a result of the defendants’ illegal conduct, Medicare was billed over $800,000 in 2008 resulting in payments of over $480,000 to the defendants’ organization.

The defendants allegedly paid customers to write fake prescriptions for them and then took them to pharmacists before charging Medicaid for office visits and other procedures.

A conviction of the offense carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison or a $1 million fine, or both.