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Owner and Managing Physician at www.youronlinedoctor.com Convicted by Federal Jury in Charlotte, North Carolina
Jury Finds Defendants Guilty on Drug Distribution Counts in Connection with Unlawful Prescription Drug Operation Associated with Woody’s Pharmacy

U.S. Attorney’s Office August 20, 2009
  • Western District of North Carolina (704) 344-6222

CHARLOTTE, NC—A federal jury in the Western District of North Carolina, Charlotte Division, convicted Kathleen Giacobbe, 46, of Lyndonville, Vermont, and Porfirio Orta-Rosario, 51, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, following a seven-day trial which ended today with guilty verdicts.

The return of the guilty verdicts concluded a federal investigation of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and distribution of controlled substances in connection with an unlawful prescription drug operation based in the Western District of North Carolina at Woody’s Pharmacy locations in Mooresville and Denver, North Carolina. The federal indictment, filed two years ago, also charged Alvin Woody, 60, of Mooresville, North Carolina in the same conspiracy in which powerful and addictive controlled substances were distributed to customers throughout the United States based on purported prescriptions faxed to Woody's Pharmacy by www.youronlinedoctor.com, a Vermont-based website operated by Defendant Kathleen Giacobbe.

Today’s announcement of the guilty verdict is made by Acting U.S. Attorney Edward R. Ryan. Joining Ryan in making today’s announcement is Owen D. Harris, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in North Carolina; Jeannine Hammett, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigations in North and South Carolina; and Rodney G. Benson, Special Agent in Charge of Drug Enforcement Administration, Atlanta Division.

A federal indictment charging Alvin Woody, Kathleen Giacobbe, Porfirio Orta-Rosario, Stephen Giacobbe, and Christopher Otiko was initially filed in 2007 in U.S. District Court in Charlotte. In July 2008, Alvin Woody entered a guilty plea to charges of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and money laundering. Today Kathleen Giacobbe was convicted on one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and 38 separate counts of distributing controlled substances and Porfirio Orta-Rosario was convicted on one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and 50 separate counts of distributing controlled substances. The trial, presided over by Chief U.S. District Judge, Robert J. Conrad, Jr., lasted seven days and the jury deliberated for two days. Three other employees of youronlinedoctor.com previously pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Alvin Woody and Stephen Giacobbe were both sentenced earlier this year.

According to the evidence presented at the trial, Giacobbe and Orta-Rosario conspired with one another and with others to distribute prescription painkillers and anti-anxiety medications, Schedule III and IV controlled substances, to customers throughout the country based on what were purported to be prescriptions that were faxed to Woody Pharmacy by www.youronlinedoctor.com. Trial testimony and evidence revealed that these purported prescriptions were, in fact, mere drug orders bearing a doctor’s photocopied signature based on a telephone “interview” with a customer, which was generally conducted by individuals with no training or authority to write prescriptions. Giacobbe’s online business faxed these purported prescriptions, according to evidence presented during the trial, to Woody’s Pharmacy in North Carolina, because it was a pharmacy which Giacobbe knew would not question the legitimacy of the purported prescriptions. Trial testimony and evidence established that this operation resulted in millions of dosage units of powerful and addictive controlled substances, primarily hydrocodone (e.g., Vicodin) and alprazolam (e.g., Xanax), being distributed to thousands of customers nationwide out of Woody’s Pharmacy. Following Thursday’s conviction, Chief U.S. District Judge Conrad announced that sentencing of Giacobbe, and Orta-Rosario would take place on a later date. Defendants Giacobbe and Orta-Rosario remain free on bond and currently face sentences of up to five years' imprisonment on each count on which they were found guilty.

The prosecution was handled for the government by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melissa Rikard and Dana Washington of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.

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