Weapons indictment added to drug charges against Vero doctor

Vero Beach spine surgeon Johnny Benjamin was indicted a second time by a federal grand jury this month as prosecutors added an additional weapons charge to the doctor’s litany of drug charges. Two co-defendants, the informants who cooperated with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency as it investigated Benjamin, were named for the first time and indicted on multiple drug charges.

Zachary Steward and Keven George Slater were charged with one count of conspiring with Benjamin in Palm Beach County to possess and distribute a controlled substance resulting in death; one count of distribution there during the fall of 2016; and an additional count for illegal distribution of a controlled substance in Indian River County as early as January of that year. Each defendant faces 20 years to life in prison if convicted.

Read more here.