Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Fraudulent Opioid Prescription Conspiracy
GoLocalProv News Team
Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Fraudulent Opioid Prescription Conspiracy
Michael Slonski, 48, was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison and three years supervised release upon completion of his prison term.
The sentencing comes after Slonski pled guilty in April of 2018 to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute Oxycodone.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTIn 2017, more than 72,000 Americans died of drug overdoses.
The Investigation
At the time of his guilty plea, Slonski admitted to being part of a conspiracy that created fraudulent prescriptions utilizing the identities, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) identification numbers, and signatures of medical practitioners without their consent.
Prescriptions for varying amounts of Oxycodone pills were written and presented to pharmacies by some members of the conspiracy and others working at the direction of the conspirators.
The scheme often times included the fraudulent use of medical insurance to pay pharmacies for the illicit prescriptions. Most of the Oxycodone pills gained with the use of fraudulent prescriptions were sold to others for distribution.
Slonski admitted that his role in the conspiracy included producing fraudulent Oxycodone prescriptions, passing or causing others to fill the prescriptions at pharmacies, and benefiting personally by selling fraudulently obtained pills.
Robert Rose, 52, of Providence, the acknowledged leader of the conspiracy, was sentenced on October 15, 2018, to 72 months in federal prison.
Rose admitted to the Court that as the leader of the conspiracy, he paid for individuals’ identities, health care insurance information, and prescribing medical practitioners’ names and DEA numbers. Rose provided that information to others who participated in the conspiracy, and provided special paper necessary to produce the fraudulent prescriptions.