4 OVERDOSES SINCE '06 LINKED TO DOCTOR

TAMPA - Terry Underwood remembers when his wife found their son's body.

Timothy Underwood had gone out the night before with friends, his
father said. Sometime before morning, someone brought the 23-year-old
construction worker home.

He died while lying in the back seat of his car in the driveway.

"We didn't even know he was there until we woke up and found him,"
said Terry Underwood, a route driver for a convenience store chain
who lives in Seffner. "He made it home."

The cause of his death May 11 was an accidental overdose of two
prescription drugs: alprazolam and oxycodone. He had gotten a
prescription for the alprazolam, also known as Xanax, four days
earlier from a doctor named John Mubang.

Hillsborough County sheriff's detectives have tied Mubang to at least
three other accidental overdose deaths since 2006 in an investigation
that led to a raid this week of the doctor's Seffner clinic.

Affidavit Names 4 Victims

Mubang, former medical director of the Hillsborough County jail
system, was arrested Wednesday on charges of prescribing drugs for
monetary gain and trafficking controlled substances.

In an affidavit released Friday, detectives named four victims
including Underwood. The others:

"c Denise Sims, 42, of Seffner, who died Jan. 18, 2006, of the
combined effects of alprazolam and oxycodone. She had received a
prescription for the medications from Mubang 10 days earlier.

"c Michael Tarantola, 32, of Wimauma, died March 23, 2007. Mubang
wrote him a prescription for the muscle relaxer carisoprodol three
days earlier, the affidavit said. Tarantola died of an accidental
overdose of the drug along with alprazolam, hydrocodone and oxycodone.

"c Michael Grogan, whose mother found her 53-year-old son on the
morning of July 28, 2007, lying on his back in bed with a peanut
butter sandwich in his hand.

"I touched him and I knew he was gone," said Betty Grogan of Brandon.

Her son was addicted to prescription medications, she said. A medical
examiner's report found Michael Grogan died of an accidental overdose
of morphine, alprazolam, carisoprodol, temazepam and doxepin.

Mubang is listed as Grogan's last attending physician, according to
the affidavit.

A vehicle accident 31 years earlier had left Grogan with a battered
body and severe head injuries, his mother said. He frequently sought
medicine from Mubang and other doctors.

"It seems like the doctor would have checked to see what else he was
taking," Betty Grogan said.

A Tampa Tribune investigation also uncovered another victim,
21-year-old Carl Hyder. Records show he died of the combined effects
of alcohol, hydrocodone and alprazolam.

Investigators found drugs prescribed by Mubang two days earlier:
hydrocodone, a pain killer, and alprazolam, as well as carisoprodol
marketed under the brand name Soma.

Mubang, 57, originally from Cameroon, Africa, operates a corporation
called Jerik University at 741 Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd. in
Seffner, public records show. Corporation officers are listed as
Mubang, president; his wife Angeline Mubang, vice president; and
16-year-old Fred Mubang, treasurer.

Angeline Mubang also is a registered nurse, according to the affidavit.

John Mubang also has a medical license in Pennsylvania and received
his medical degree from Hahnemann University, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.,
according to the Florida Department of Health.

Detectives Visited Him 13 Times

The affidavit outlines an investigation that began in February and
lasted until May, following telephone complaints from anonymous
callers who had loved ones addicted to prescription drugs.

Mubang was mentioned as the prescribing practitioner, according to
sheriff's Detective Karen Cain. Cain said she also had been contacted
by two news reporters including the Tribune's Elaine Silvestrini, who
had learned from public records that Mubang was the prescribing
practitioner in overdose deaths.

Undercover detectives visited Mubang 13 times, paying $110 to $135
per visit. They told the doctor they had been in car accidents, but
never showed any evidence of injuries.

Each time, they walked away with narcotics prescriptions, the
affidavit said. Mubang barely examined them, the affidavit said.

The waiting room was described as "a social event" where everyone
talked about how easy it was to get prescriptions. Some patients were
trying to barter their medicines, detectives said.

Investigators seized computers, patient names and records of deceased
clients, but they did not take current medical records, authorities said.

For the victims' families, Mubang's arrest brings some relief.

"We are very, very pleased," said Terry Underwood, who described his
son, Timothy, as a loving person. "It's been a hard 12 months."

WFLA News Channel 8 Reporter Krista Klaus contributed to this report.