Fayetteville man wanted for posing as doctor surrenders

Cumberland County sheriff’s investigators said Wright Gillies, 60, was charged with felony identity theft and misdemeanor practicing medicine without a license in connection with the RF Medical Clinic, at 705 Cumberland St.

Gillies was released from the Cumberland County Detention Center on a $10,000 unsecured bond. His first court appearance is scheduled for Friday.

Investigators say Gillies did not have a valid medical license when he was giving flu shots and prescriptions to children and adults at the clinic, which accepted cash but not insurance.

“It’s very scary,” said Debbie Tanna, a spokeswoman with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators on Wednesday shut down the medical clinic, which operated inside the Right Foundation building. Right Foundation Mental Health, which operates in the same building, is open.

WRAL News found a record with a physician's assistant named Wright Gillies who surrendered his license in New York back in 2009.

The document shows the physician assistant falsely filled out his license renewal, saying he had not been charged with a crime. In fact, he pleaded guilty to child endangerment.

Records show Gillies has been in North Carolina since at least 2011. He was listed as an adjunct faculty member at Miller-Motte College. A school spokeswoman told WRAL News that Gillies doesn't teach there now.

Authorities began their investigation in November after a deputy was tipped to bogus prescriptions coming from the clinic. Tanna said it took several months to build a case.

“We had to make sure that this is what he had done, and there were actually people that he was treating – writing prescriptions for and giving injections to – before we could have any type of information to pursue charges,” she said.

The State Bureau of Investigation and Fayetteville police are working with the sheriff’s office on the investigation. They have not said which doctor’s identification or credentials were used to write the fraudulent prescriptions.

Gillies apparently tried to turn himself in Wednesday night and was told to go home because the charges were not finalized.