Nine Sentenced in Southwest Florida Prescription Drug Fraud Ring

FORT MYERS, FL—U.S. Attorney Robert E. O'Neill announced today the culmination of a nine-defendant prescription fraud ring case in Southwest Florida. The following defendants, all residents of Lee County, were sentenced to federal imprisonment for conspiring to distribute Oxycodone, Methadone, and Alprazolam.

 Age  Federal Prison Sentence  Sentencing Date

Jason Bergin  35 15 Years  3/7/2011

Robert Powner  57 11 Years  3/7/2011

Susan Hamilton  51 10 years  5/24/2010

Julie Becker  35 5 years  3/29/2010

Matthew Gross  32 5 years  8/3/2010

Jarrett Sprafka  31 6 ½ years  4/29/2010

Carey Bergin  37 6 ½ years  3/9/2011

Shandy Albert  34 6 ½ years  6/22/2010

Theresa Martinez  47 6 years  4/26/2010

This case involved fraudulent prescriptions that were passed in local pharmacies, which enabled the defendants in the conspiracy to obtain thousands of highly addictive pain medication pills, mostly Oxycodone. According to court documents, the defendants provided local pharmacies with a false telephone number, whereby one of the conspirators pretended to be a physician's office in order to verify the fraudulent prescriptions. The heads of the drug organization, Jason and Carey Bergin, then sold a large number of the pills for profit.

This case was investigated by agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force and prosecuted by Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Waid and Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Molloy.

"We are combining our resources, at every level possible," said U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill. "By sharing broader intelligence, information, and investigative strategies among our law enforcement partners, we will aggressively investigate and prosecute these types of crimes."

This announcement comes following a meeting yesterday regarding the investigation and prosecution of prescription fraud and "pill mill" criminal activity that has plagued Southwest Florida. Representatives of the Drug Enforcement Administration; Florida Department of Health; Lee County Sheriff's Office; Cape Coral Police Department; Internal Revenue Service; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations; Collier County Sheriff's Department; Naples Police Department; Federal Bureau of Investigation; Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; and Florida Department of Law Enforcement met at the United States Attorney's Office to coordinate combating this serious crime.