Pham

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 23-1175 D.C. No. Plaintiff - Appellee, 8:19-cr-00010-

JLS-

v.

DZUNG AHN PHAM,

OPINION

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Josephine L. Staton, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted September 12, 2024 Pasadena, California

Filed November 5, 2024

Before: Mary M. Schroeder, Ryan D. Nelson, and Eric D. Miller, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Schroeder SUMMARY *

Criminal Law

The panel affirmed the district court’s denial of Dzung Ahn Pham’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances in violation of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Pham, formerly a licensed physician, admitted in his plea agreement to conspiring with a pharmacist to prescribe and distribute over 150,000 narcotic pills, and to issuing the prescriptions knowing he was doing so “outside the usual course of professional medical practice and without a legitimate medical purpose.” This admission echoes the applicable regulation, 21 C.F.R. §…