Monmouth County Doctor Pleads Guilty to Oxycodone Distribution and Conspiracy
| U.S. Attorney’s Office October 22, 2012 |
TRENTON, NJ—A doctor who allegedly wrote illegal prescriptions for oxycodone today admitted to participating in a conspiracy to distribute the medication illegally, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Jacqueline Lopresti, 52, of Fair Haven, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before Judge Freda L. Wolfson to an information charging her with one count of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and 11 counts of distribution of oxycodone.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Oxycodone is the active ingredient in brand name pills such as Oxycontin, Roxicodone, and Percocet. It is a Schedule II controlled substance—meaning that it has a high potential for abuse, a currently accepted medical use with severe restrictions, and abuse of the drug may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence.
In 2009, Lopresti issued prescriptions to co-conspirators for drugs containing oxycodone, outside the usual course of medical practice and not for any legitimate medical purpose. The prescriptions were filled at various pharmacies located in and around Monmouth, Ocean, and Atlantic Counties, New Jersey, and redistributed by others.
The charge to which the defendant pleaded guilty is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 30, 2013.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited the New Jersey DEA Tactical Diversion Squad, composed of DEA special agents, diversion investigators, and intelligence analysts; FBI and IRS special agents; and local law enforcement officers from the Essex County Sheriff’s Bureau of Narcotics, Newark Police Department, Elizabeth Police Department, Clinton Township Police Department, and Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Joseph Gribko of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Trenton.