Thursday, October 1, 2026
A Baldwin Harbor physician, Dr. Leonard Stambler, 60, and his roommate, Chris Adams, face up to 20 years in prison if convicted on a charge of illegally distributing drugs — including the painkiller oxycodone — the Drug Enforcement Administration said last week.
According to investigators, Stambler, who was arrested on Dec. 5, did not have an office and was observed meeting with patients in his car or outside their homes. Stambler also reportedly left prescriptions on his patients’ front porches when he was unable to meet with them. Authorities allege that on 20 occasions between March and November, Stambler provided prescriptions to people who intended to abuse or resell the medications.
In the wake of the murder of four people by David Laffer during an oxycodone-related pharmacy holdup in Medford in June, local authorities have become more keenly aware of doctors overprescribing and even selling powerful painkillers themselves. Although no link between Stambler and Laffer is alleged, the investigation into Stambler’s activities was part of a larger probe into the illegal distribution of oxycodone in Nassau County. The investigation involved undercover observation of Stambler’s and Adams’s activities.
Papers filed last week in a Central Islip court revealed that in one instance last month, DEA agents followed Stambler and Adams to an East Rockaway pharmacy, where Adams filled his common law wife’s prescription for 200 oxycodone pills. The pair then gave some of the pills to a man on Morton Avenue, not far away. Agents stopped their car and questioned the two men. Adams told the authorities that he informed Stambler that he needed to give some pills to the unidentified man, to which Stambler reportedly replied, “I don’t want to see it and I don’t want to know about it.”
U.S. Attorney Alan Bode also announced last week that Stambler’s Baldwin Harbor home had been condemned. Bode said that investigating authorities had found the residence filthy and strewn with cat feces. He also said that Stambler kept at least 50 air rifles in the home.
Stambler’s attorney, Gary Schoer, declined to comment on the case.
