Concerns Sparked by Convicted Felon's Suboxone Clinic on Wickenden St.

Concerns Sparked by Convicted Felon's Suboxone Clinic on Wickenden St.

A former Rhode Island tax preparer who was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison by the Department of Justice has opened a suboxone therapy clinic Wickenden Street in Providence.  Neighbors have taken to social media as a number of people were victims of his tax scheme are concerned about the new venture.

Michael Brier, who in 2013 pleaded guilty to underreporting over a million dollars in income and violating a federal court order that had permanently barred him to preparing tax returns for others, opened Recovery Connection in Providence in June, to "provide counseling services to those with opioid and drug addiction issues," at the same location where his tax preparation services had been.

Moreover, a former partner is associated with the new business. Jeffrey Sroufe was also barred from the tax business by the Department of Justice and now, according to RI Secretary of State filings, is the incorporator in Recovery Connection and Brier is a Director and the registered agent. 

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Signs out front advertise suboxone therapy --  suboxone is a prescription medicine indicated for treatment of opioid dependence and should be, according the drug manufacturer, used as part of a complete treatment plan to include counseling and psychosocial support.  The location is a few hundred feet from the Vartan Gregorian Elementary School (formerly the Fox Point Elementary School).

"Basically, as a small business owner, finding out your tax preparer got arrested for fraud isn't exactly good news," said Chris Daltry, a Providence resident who had been a client of Brier's. "Maybe he's reformed, but based on his history, he's not exactly trustworthy."

Brier was less than pleased to hear anyone had concerns. "If they're talking about me, if they have any balls, they'll come to my door, and ask me," said Brier.

Brier on New Business

In a video on his website, Brier acknowledges that he was an addict, and urges people to use the clinic to get help. 

"My name is Michael, I'm an addict," he says in the video. "Once you're an addict you're always going to be an addict. Come in and talk to one of our medical professionals, we'll not only offer you suboxone and therapy, we'll be there for your whole life."  

"I've been getting calls from neighbors that don't know what it's about. There's nothing illegal, we're here to help," said Brier on Thursday. "Do people realize that there is a huge need for suboxone? If the neighborhood doesn't like it, where should it be, buried inside a warehouse somewhere?  Do they want to deal with these issues or not? Fox Point isn't a rich neighborhood."

"And if people to bring up my past, so be it. They can go bring it up with a federal judge. I'm not going anywhere," said Brier. "This only has an altruistic purpose, and that's to help people out, but they just want to talk about what Michael Brier did."

The location on Wickenden Street is a mixed use commercial and residential area; Vartan Gregorian and the Fox Point Boys and Girls Club are four blocks away. 

Prior Legal Issues

GoLocal reported the following of Brier in 2013:

According to United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston office of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Criminal Investigation. Michael Brier, owner of the tax preparation firm Refunds Now Inc., which is based in Providence, pleaded guilty...to one count of criminal contempt and one count of tax evasion return.

Brier had been issued a preliminary injunction by the court in November 2010 after an investigation revealed that “at least 300 tax returns prepared by Brier and Refunds Now” understated his customers’ tax liabilities and that Brier and his employees had “fabricated tax deductions and credits on the returns.”

Brier had already been named in federal court in 2011 along with Sroufe.

In 2011, a federal court in Providence "ordered that Michael Brier, the owner of the tax return preparation firm Refunds Now Inc., and his employees, Jeffrey Sroufe, Esther Santiago and Carmen Miranda, be permanently barred from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The permanent injunction order, to which the four individuals consented, applies to them personally and doing business under the names Refunds Now Inc., RNTS Inc., FTIRS Inc., POTIRS Inc. and IHIRS Inc."  

Linda Reilly, the Chief Community Relations Officer at the Rhode Island Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Development Disabilities and Hospitals (BHDDH) provided the following statement on Thursday. 

"BHDDH licenses behavioral health treatment programs. This is different than licensing an individual suboxone provider, which is handled by the Department of Health. Recovery Connection is not licensed by BHDDH because it is not a behavioral health treatment program," said Reilly. "Neither the Department of Health, nor BHDDH have received any information or complaints suggesting that the individual asked about is prescribing suboxone. He is not a licensed physician, and no physicians in RIDOH’s licensing database are associated with that location."

"Rhode State Regulations state that in a licensed facility, the organization’s Board of Directors must make the judgement on the hiring of prospective employees. However, to reiterate we have not received any information that this is a prescribing environment," said Reilly.