The owner of a drug rehab clinic was arrested after selling fentanyl to a police informant inside the facility, according to Florida investigators who say the accused woman was "targeting a vulnerable population" and "preying on those looking for hope while battling a vicious disease."
Misty, Gilley, 50, was booked on felony narcotics charges for allegedly selling fentanyl, a powerful opioid, out of Simply Recovery, the substance abuse treatment facility she operates in Altamonte Springs, a city in Seminole County, Florida.
According to a Seminole County Sheriff's Office arrest report obtained by The Smoking Gun, authorities started investigating Gilley earlier this month after receiving a tip-off that she was selling fentanyl and cocaine out of her home and workplace.
The police then directed a "confidential information from Gilley's place of business" to purchase $40 of fentanyl from her inside the facility. A subsequent $160 sale by Gilley to a police informant took place inside her Altamonte Springs residence.
Police Found Several Bags of Fentanyl at the Facility
During a raid at the clinic on Monday, police found a backpack containing multiple used needles, a gram of cocaine, and 18 small baggies containing fentanyl. The backpack also contained two "prescription bottles with the name 'Misty Gilley.'"
In the clinic's group therapy room, investigators found multiple baggies "with suspected fentanyl residue" in a garbage can (which also contained "multiple bloody tissues, bloody filters, and used needles"). The room, according to the arrest report, was apparently "being used for drug use activities."
A search of Gilley's home turned up 11 baggies with "suspected fentanyl residue," police noted. An undercover cop who interacted with Gilley while the investigation was ongoing alleged that while operating a rehab clinic, she was also "preying on those looking for hope while battling a vicious disease."
Gilley was released after posting $49,500 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned on December 7.
