A Pharr licensed pharmacist has pleaded guilty to conspiring to pay bribes in exchange for prescription referrals, according to U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Hamdani said 55-year-old John Ageudo Rodriguez, of McAllen, owned and operated a pharmacy in Pharr called Pharr Family Pharmacy.

Rodriguez admitted to paying bribes in excess of $24 million to various marketers. Those same marketers had various relationships with physicians and clinics that could make referrals to Rodriguez's pharmacy for expensive compound drugs, according to Hamdani.

Hamdani said from 2014 to 2016, Rodriguez's pharmacy billed more than $110 million to various federal health care benefit programs for compound drugs. Rodriguez's guilty plea follows other guilty pleas from other marketers involved in this bribery scheme.

Rodriguez is scheduled for sentencing on March 25. He faces up to five years in federal prison and a possible maximum fine of $250,000. He was permitted to remain out on bond pending his sentencing.