‘Pill mill’ operators face federal prosecution
Jong Whan Kim
By DEUCE NIVEN
tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com
A former Tabor City physician and his girlfriend assistant are now facing federal drug conspiracy charges in what a state prosecutor described as a “pill mill” operating out of his East 5th Street office last summer.
Jong Whan Kim, 60, and Tammy Lynn Thompson, 54, were each indicted by a federal grand jury on Dec. 12, 2018, and made their first court appearances in New Bern on Jan. 7, a Don Conelly, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina said Tuesday.
Tammy Lynn Thompson
Thompson was ordered detained pending trial after waiving her right to bond, Det. Kevin Norris of the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office said. She is currently in federal custody.
A government motion to detain Kim was denied on Jan. 23, Connelly said. Kim has been returned to custody in Columbus County, and is being held under a $5.8 million bond set following his arrest last June.
Both Kim and Thompson are scheduled for arraignment on March 12 in New Bern.
For much more on this story see today’s Tabor-Loris Tribune in print and online.
