Two people from Connecticut and a former Hartford resident were indicted on charges tied to a fake prescription scheme to fraudulently obtain and distribute oxycodone, federal prosecutors say.
Jason Kemp, 42, of East Windsor; Maria Pirulli, 42, of New Haven; and Oral Welborn, 58, of Columbia, S.C., were indicted by a Hartford federal grand jury for their role in the alleged scheme, Connecticut U.S. Attorney John H. Durham’s office said Friday.
All three were arrested on the charges Friday, authorities said.
According to investigators, between 2012 and 2014, Kemp obtained blank prescription paper from workers at various Connecticut medical practices, including Pirulli, a former Newington resident who worked as an assistant and bookkeeper at a Hartford medical practice.
Kemp kept some of the prescription paper for himself and sold some, for thousands of dollars, to others, including Welborn, who previously lived in Hartford, prosecutors said.
Kemp, Welborn and another unidentified co-conspirator then recruited “runners,” who typically were individuals who received Medicaid and Medicare benefits, to fill fraudulent prescriptions at various pharmacies, authorities said.
Kemp, Welborn and the other co-conspirator filled out each prescription with the runners’ identifying information and forged a doctor’s signature on the prescriptions, they said.
The runners then filled the fake prescriptions pharmacies, using their Medicaid or Medicare benefits, and provided the pills to Kemp, Welborn and their co-conspirator in exchange for approximately $50 per prescription, authorities said. Kemp, Welborn and their co-conspirator then sold the pills to individuals suffering from opioid addictions.
Investigators allege that Kemp, Welborn and their co-conspirator were responsible for filling at least 150 fraudulent prescriptions for oxycodone, almost all of which were for 150 30-milligram oxycodone pills.
Kemp faces one count of conspiracy to distribute narcotics, which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years; one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, with a maximum 10-year term; and two counts of health care fraud, each with a maximum term of 10 years.
Welborn is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute narcotics and one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, and Pirulli is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute narcotics.
