Jury Convicts Virginia Beach Plastic Surgeon for Illegal Drug Possession

NORFOLK, Va. – A federal jury convicted a Virginia Beach man today on charges of illegal possession of controlled substances.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, John Stuart Mancoll, 59, was stopped on August 18, 2021, by Virginia Beach Police patrol officers found in possession of oxycodone and a stronger opioid called hydromorphone, or Dilaudid. While he claimed to the officers that he had prescriptions for the drugs, the evidence at trial established that the pills did not match any of his past prescriptions, and instead matched those of unused pills he directed his patients to return, which he kept under his office desk. Following the traffic stop on August 18, 2021, police searched his medical practice and found at least five patient prescription bottles at the foot of his desk, missing in total more than a hundred oxycodone pills. At trial, the defendant took the stand and testified that he believed someone planted pills in his prescription bottle found at the traffic stop.

Mancoll was convicted of possession of oxycodone and possession of hydromorphone and faces up to 2 years in prison when sentenced on October 20. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Division; and Paul Neudigate, Chief of Virginia Beach Police, made the announcement after Senior U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney, Jr accepted the verdict.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys John F. Butler and E. Rebecca Gantt are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:22-cr-82.