GREENBELT, Md. – Dr. Anissa Maroof, 48, of Potomac, Maryland, has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for unlawfully distributing and dispensing controlled substances, including Xanax (Alprazolam), Adderall (Amphetamine-dextroamphetamine), and Buprenorphine. Following her prison term, she will serve two years of supervised release, with the first nine months on home detention.
The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes for the District of Maryland, along with the FBI Baltimore Field Office and the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD).
According to her guilty plea, Maroof — a physician board certified in addiction psychiatry — knowingly prescribed controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose, and outside the scope of professional practice, between January 2019 and June 2022.
Maroof owned and operated a medical practice in Bethesda, Maryland, and held a DEA registration number allowing her to prescribe controlled substances. However, investigators found she routinely prescribed powerful medications to patients from West Virginia without proper medical evaluations or care.
Among the most concerning practices:
Maroof prescribed drugs without warning patients about the risks of combining medications such as Xanax, Adderall, and Buprenorphine.
She continued to prescribe drugs to individuals even after they admitted to selling their surplus pills illegally.
Maroof often called in prescriptions without seeing the patient, then instructed them to leave cash under her office door in exchange.
She advised patients on how to split their prescriptions across multiple pharmacies to avoid detection.
Additionally, many of her patients received no therapeutic services, a violation of medical standards for addiction treatment.
