Man accused of peddling phony prescriptions for opioids in NJ gets prison, feds say

A New Jersey man accused of selling fake prescriptions for a variety of drugs, including opioids, has been sentenced to prison, according to federal prosecutors.

Jose Colon, 37, previously worked at a medical practice in Mount Holly, a suburb of Philadelphia, according to a Dec. 12 press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey.

Between June 2018 and June 2020, Colon, who is “not a medical provider,” used the names of doctors he worked with to covertly create and sell phony prescriptions for drugs, including Adderall, Oxycodone, Percocet and Xanax, prosecutors said in court documents and the release.

An attorney for Colon could not immediately be reached for comment by McClatchy News.

Colon produced both paper and electronic prescriptions in exchange for cash and electronic payments, prosecutors said.

He directed customers to fill their prescriptions late in the day when the medical office was closed so that he could answer any incoming phone calls from wary pharmacists, according to prosecutors.

On at least one occasion, while making a fake prescription, Colon used the name of a retired physician who “is very old and would not know the prescriptions were being sent,” the Cherry Hill Courier Post reported in February, citing a criminal complaint.

Colon pleaded guilty to a charge of distribution of controlled substances in February and was sentenced on Dec. 12 to 30 months in prison, officials said. He must also forfeit any proceeds he made from the sale of the fake prescriptions.

Following his prison term, he will be subject to three years of supervised release, officials said.

Forging prescriptions is one of the most common methods of prescription drug fraud, according to information from the Department of Justice published in 2013. Phoning in fake prescriptions while posing as a medical employee is also common.

This story was originally published December 13, 2022 at 6:45 PM with the headline "Man accused of peddling phony prescriptions for opioids in NJ gets prison, feds say."