CHARLESTON -- Criminal charges have been filed, and a guilty plea hearing has been requested in the case of a second doctor accused of involvement in illegal prescription-drug sales at a facility near the Wayne-Mingo county line.

Dr. Augusto T. Abad, of Charleston, was charged with conspiracy to misuse a Drug Enforcement Administration number and health care fraud by aiding and abetting. Both charges were filed Friday by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The accusations are the same as those faced by Dr. John Theodore Tiano. Tiano pleaded guilty in December 2009 and awaits sentencing in March, when he faces 14 years in prison and/or a $500,000 fine.

Both are accused of allowing nurse practitioners at the Justice Medical Complex to use the doctors' DEA numbers. The DEA numbers were used to secure payment from Medicare, as part of a scheme to prescribe pain medication to patients never seen by the physician, according to court allegations.

Abad's alleged activity took place between January 2008 and March 26, 2009.

The ending date corresponds with the time federal agents executed search warrants targeting the clinic and its neighboring Sav-Rite pharmacies in March 2009. Affidavits alleged both companies conspired to distribute massive amounts of pain medication illegally.

The operation attracted customers from near and far, allowing Sav-Rite to purchase more of the pain killer hydrocodone for distribution than all but 21 retail pharmacies in the nation during 2006, according to court affidavits.

Federal prosecutors allege, as part of the scheme, Abad helped in defrauding Medicare of $110,959.49 for drugs ostensibly prescribed by a doctor, which were not, in fact, prescribed by a physician. Drugs linked to Abad were hydrocodone, alprazalom and phentermine.

Prosecutors filed the Abad charges in the form of an information, a method that typically indicates the defendant is cooperating with prosecutors. It allows both sides to bypass a grand jury indictment to resolve the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Monica Schwartz requested a guilty plea hearing Thursday, but no date was scheduled as of Monday morning.

Tiano, a former Marshall University cardiology fellow, and Abad were among several people named in the search warrant connected to the Justice Medical Complex and the nearby Sav-Rite pharmacies. Allegations contained in the affidavits indicate more people could be charged.

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