Government Identifies the Man as the Ringleader of the Operation
GREENBELT, Md. (May 18, 2009) - U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte sentenced Scott K. Gibson, age 28, of Mechanicsville, Maryland, Friday to 42 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiracy, making a false statement and aggravated identity theft in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain oxycontin and oxycodone from pharmacies using stolen patient identity information, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Judge Messitte also ordered Gibson to pay $25,301.40 in restitution.
According to his guilty plea, from October 2005 to April 2007, Gibson led a conspiracy to obtain Oxycontin and oxycodone by fraud, using registration numbers of doctors and the names, dates of birth, and health insurance numbers of patients without their knowledge. Gibson used patient information stolen by a co-conspirator who worked in a dentist office to fill out fraudulent prescriptions with a fake doctor’s office telephone number printed on the prescription. The fraudulent prescriptions were presented to area pharmacies to obtain Oxycontin and oxycodone tablets, while billing the patient’s health insurance provider for the tablets. When pharmacies called the doctor’s phone number on the prescription, Gibson arranged for a co-conspirator to answer that phone and confirm the fraudulent prescription. Gibson took the fraudulent prescriptions to pharmacies himself, and also drove at least three “runners” to area pharmacies to fraudulently obtain the prescription drugs. Gibson and the runner typically split the tablets they obtained and gave a few tablets each to the co-conspirators who fraudulently obtained the patient information and answered the phone.
Gibson and others fraudulently obtained Oxycontin or oxycodone from between 10 and 50 pharmacies. The total amount of money paid by health insurance providers to the pharmacies for the fraudulent prescriptions was $26,238.64.
Co-defendants Anton S. Miller, age 29, of Mechanicsville, Maryland; Brad Willingham, age 29, of Leonardtown, Maryland; Shannon Sherwood, age 35, of Ernul, North Carolina; and Owen Canter, age 39, of Waldorf, Maryland pleaded guilty their participation in the scheme. Miller and Willingham were sentenced to three years and two years in prison, respectively. Sherwood and Canter were sentenced to probation.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Drug and Enforcement Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General, the Charles County Sheriff’s Office, the Montgomery County Police Department, the Office of Personnel Management - Office of Inspector General and the Maryland Transportation Authority Police for their investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorney Steven M. Dunne, who prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maryland