A 74-year-old Maui physician will give up his medical license as part of an agreement to plead guilty after he was arrested by federal agents for illegally prescribing drugs.

Chris A. Boulange entered a plea of guilty today to one count of unlawful distribution of hydrocodone through a prescription that was not issued for a legitimate medical purpose by a practitioner acting within the usual course of professional practice, according to a memorandum of plea agreement filed in federal court.

He faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $1 million. After release he will be on federal probation for three years.

Prior to his sentencing on Jan. 24 at 10 a.m. before Senior U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway, Boulange agreed to permanently surrender his Drug Enforcement Administration controlled substance registration “for cause and agrees not to re-apply for a DEA registration number at any time in the future, and to permanently surrender his State of Hawaii medical license.”

Boulange was charged by criminal complaint March 2 and indicted by a federal grand jury April 6.

He faced two counts of unlawful distribution of hydrocodone, one count of unlawful distribution of hydrocodone and alprazolam, and two counts of unlawful distribution of hydrocodone and diazepam.

The U.S. Department of Justice agreed to drop the other charges in exchange for Boulange’s guilty plea.

Boulange remains free before sentencing on an unsecured $25,000 bond.

The DEA started investigating Boulange in June 2022 using an undercover investigator posing as a patient who split her time between Oahu and Maui, worked in a bar and hurt her neck.

The undercover operative met with Boulange four times to get prescriptions for an opioid or an opioid combined with a benzodiazepine.