Another member of prescription drug ring to plead guilty

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An Illinois man will plead guilty to taking part in a drug trafficking ring that came out of a former Merrillville doctor’s office.

Nick Santana is pleading guilty to one count distributing hydrocodone, also known as Vicodin, and faces up to five years in prison, according to a plea agreement filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Hammond.

According to the plea agreement, Nick Santana received the drugs from Lindsay Kozinski at his house in Illinois and paid her back with money he earned from selling them.

Kozinski and employees of Dr. Adolph Yaniz used his status as a medical doctor to order the drug from his supplier and then drove to Santana’s house to give it to him. She pleaded guilty in the case in 2009, and Yaniz admitted in 2010 to knowing what was going on and not stopping it. He was sentenced last year to five years in prison.

A change of plea hearing for Santana had not been scheduled as of Tuesday afternoon, according to court records.