As former Franklin Pharmacy owner Joseph Huff saw his wife spiral deeper into a drug addiction, he said the desperation he felt to get her out of the situation and preserve their relationship led him down a dark path.

That path culminated Thursday with a federal judge sentencing Huff and his wife, Jennifer Huff, to prison.

Joseph Huff, 46, was ordered to serve 36 months in prison after earlier pleading guilty to 12 counts of health care fraud and one count each of theft of medical products, conspiracy to unlawfully distribute controlled substances, aggravated identity theft and making false statements.

Jennifer Huff, 46, was sentenced to 24 months in prison following a guilty plea to charges of theft of medical products, conspiracy to unlawfully distribute controlled substances and two counts of health care fraud.

Court records indicate that the conspiracy involved diverting oxycodone and hydrocodone from the pharmacy from May 2, 2020, to Jan. 17, 2023, with Jennifer Huff selling or trading the controlled substances in exchange for cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana.

All told, around 45,000 doses of prescription medication made their way to the street.

In U.S. District Court in Bowling Green on Thursday, as dozens of family members and supporters looked on, Joseph Huff took responsibility for his actions while addressing U.S. District Court Chief Judge Greg Stivers.

“Once I learned the depth of it, I was scared, I felt like I was already going to lose everything,” Huff said. “I guess somewhere along the way, I got too scared to do anything about it other than try myself to fix it … There were points in my life where I did things I’m ashamed of simply to have a relationship with my wife.”

According to federal court records, Jennifer Huff developed a dependency on opioids after giving birth to her youngest son, and family members who spoke on her behalf at Thursday’s sentencing hearing said that a history of addiction was present in the family.

In addition to the medications that illegally left the controlled pharmacy system, investigators gathered evidence that Joseph Huff falsely billed Medicaid and other health care benefit programs, doing so in some instances for medications that were dispensed to Jennifer Huff without a prescription.

On Dec. 29, 2022, Joseph Huff faxed official paperwork to the DEA in which he reported an armed robbery at his pharmacy resulting in the theft of narcotics from the business, but no such incident had taken place.

Joseph Huff’s attorney, Alan Simpson, argued for his client to be placed on probation, saying that it was unclear at the outset whether Joseph Huff had knowledge of the diversion of drugs from the pharmacy.

When the pharmacist eventually learned about the extent of his wife’s addiction, Simpson said Joseph Huff sought unsuccessfully to encourage Jennifer Huff to cut off ties with people enabling her substance abuse.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – good people make bad choices and they should not be defined by their mistakes for the rest of their lives,” Simpson said Thursday. “But for Mrs. Huff’s addiction, I don’t think Mr. Huff would be here … I can tell you that Mr. Huff begged his wife not to be around certain elements that ultimately brought them down. He fought to keep his marriage together and became an accomplice of sorts.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Ansari filed paperwork asking Joseph Huff to be sentenced to 48 months in prison and for Jennifer Huff to receive 36 months.

Federal sentencing guidelines, which take into account the nature of a defendant’s crimes and any prior criminal history, recommended a range of 57-71 months of incarceration for Joseph Huff and 51-63 months for Jennifer Huff, who both now reside in Florida.

During Joseph Huff’s sentencing hearing, Ansari argued against placing the former pharmacist on probation, saying that his actions were “an abuse of public trust.”

“(Probation) doesn’t promote justice and doesn’t reflect the serious nature of the offense,” Ansari said. “When a medical professional is sentenced and that lands in the paper, I do think other doctors and pharmacists find that to be a deterrent. Sentencing medical professionals has a deterrent effect that is good for society.”

Stivers said the situation was “heartbreaking,” but added that probating Joseph Huff would “promote disrespect for the law.”

“Other pharmacists should know that you’ll go to prison if you start selling your drugs out the back door to street dealers,” Stivers said when pronouncing the 26-month sentence.

Scott Huff, Joseph’s brother, addressed the court and said that he admired his younger brother and that his extended family would continue to offer moral support.

At her sentencing, Jennifer Huff said that the case was “the hardest and most humbling chapter of my life” and that she had been wracked by guilt and remorse for her actions.

“My descent into this situation didn’t begin with malice, it began with unhealed wounds, with emotional pain I didn’t know how to face,” Jennifer Huff said, reading from a written statement in court. “When someone offered me what felt like relief, I made a terrible choice. I sought escape in the form of numbness, and I didn’t understand how quickly and powerfully it would consume my life.”

Her attorney, Dennie Hardin, argued unsuccessfully for probation.