US lawmakers: Don’t release Drug-diluting pharmacist early

(AP) — Four U.S. lawmakers are calling on Attorney General William Barr to block the early release of a former Kansas City pharmacist who pleaded guilty in a scheme to dilute tens of thousands of prescriptions for seriously ill patients to boost profits.

U.S. Sens. Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley, along with U.S. Reps Emanuel Cleaver and Sam Graves, said in a letter Thursday that they “strongly disagree” with freeing Robert Courtney seven years early because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Bureau of Prisons said it doesn’t discuss release plans for specific inmates. But an attorney for the victims said Courtney could be released as early as this week to a halfway house and then to home confinement.