Coast chiropractor sold fentanyl to undercover agents at his office and home, records show
A Long Beach chiropractor has been released on a reduced bond totaling $20,000 following his arrest on various felony charges for allegedly selling the prescription painkiller fentanyl and other crimes.
Harrison County sheriff’s deputies arrested Joseph “Joey” Andrew Rogers on the evening of Aug. 10 after a search of his Long Beach home and his medical office.
Deputies arrested Rogers on felony charges of possessing meth and drug paraphernalia, tampering with physical evidence and two counts of selling a controlled substance.
The charges for selling fentanyl resulted from undercover operations.
On Aug. 6, the records say, Rogers sold 0.5 grams of fentanyl to a confidential informant who came to his home to make the buy. A second sale took place Aug. 5 at Rogers’ chiropractor’s office on Klondyke Road in Long Beach, resulting in the sale of another 0.5 grams of fentanyl, the records say.
Harrison County sheriff’s investigators provided the cash to make the purchases, the records say, and then seized the suspected fentanyl from the informant after the two sales.
It wasn’t until Aug. 10 that Harrison County sheriff’s investigators arrived at Rogers’ home for a search there and at his office.
When deputies arrived to search Rogers’ home on West Third Street, according to court records, investigators saw Rogers standing in a hallway with half of his body in a bathroom, where he was allegedly in the process of flushing suspected fentanyl down the toilet.
Once investigators took custody of Rogers, they found a small clear plastic box on the bathroom floor and a small spoon, both covered with a white powder residue that later tested positive for fentanyl.
Rogers had allegedly flushed the rest of the suspected fentanyl at his home., Sheriff Troy Peterson said. Investigators seized various paraphernalia, the sheriff said, that is typically used to ingest heroin and fentanyl.
On a bedroom dresser, investigators found another container that contained two-tenths of a gram of a white powder that later tested positive as methamphetamine.
After his arrest, Justice Court Judge Nick Patano set his total bond at $200,000.
However, a Justice Court judge agreed to reduce the bonds to a total of $20,000 after a Harrison County investigator agreed to the bond reduction, Harrison County prosecuting attorney Herman Cox said.
Rogers bonded out of jail 14 days after his Aug. 10 arrest.
The case is now pending a review by a Harrison County grand jury for any indictments.
