A pharmacist and pharmacy owner pleaded guilty today to violating the Controlled Substances Act by filling fraudulent and counterfeit prescriptions in exchange for cash, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Federal officials said Anthony Duncan, 61, of Hillside, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini in Newark federal court to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone and codeine.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Duncan was a licensed pharmacist who owned and operated Parkway Central Pharmacy in East Orange, New Jersey.
Duncan’s conspirators obtained bogus prescriptions for controlled substances, including oxycodone and codeine.
They brought those bogus prescriptions to Duncan at Parkway Central, who filled the prescriptions knowing that they were false or counterfeit and that he was prohibited from dispensing controlled substances without a valid prescription.
Duncan accepted cash payments from his conspirators in exchange for filling the fraudulent and counterfeit prescriptions and dispensing controlled substances.
He was generally paid $4 for every oxycodone 30mg pill, $2 for every oxycodone and acetaminophen combination product, and $10 for every eight ounces of cough syrup containing codeine.
From November 2014 through November 2018, Duncan filled more than 1,100 false or counterfeit prescriptions for controlled substances.
He illegally sold to one conspirator at least 47,000 tablets of Oxycodone 30 mg; 46,000 tablets of oxycodone and acetaminophen combination product; and 56,000 milliliters of cough syrup containing codeine.
The count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone and codeine is punishable by a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million, or twice the gross profit to the defendant, whichever is greater.