Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Charlene Honeywell has sentenced Patrice Jackson (37, Bradenton) to 5 years and 10 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Jackson, one of four members of a fraudulent opiate prescription drug conspiracy, pleaded guilty on October 23, 2019.
According to court documents, between August 2015 and August 2016, Jackson and her co-conspirators agreed to dispense and distribute prescription opiates through a forged-prescription scheme. Lucretia Mullan and another staff member at a local pain management clinic, forged prescriptions and sold them to Jackson, who then took them to nearby HP pharmacy in Pinellas Park. For a fee, the pharmacy technician at HP, Jessica Evans, assisted the HP pharmacist, Hong Truong, in dispensing the prescription opiates to Jackson. Jackson then sold the opiates to others, mostly in the Sarasota area. In all, the conspirators were responsible for obtaining at least 54 fraudulent prescriptions or 8,500 opiate tablets.
Co-conspirators Lucretia Mullan and Jessica Evans were previously sentenced to 20 months’ and 25 months’ imprisonment, respectively, for their roles in the scheme. Hong Truong’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 23, 2020.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit. The Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit was created by the Department of Justice to help combat the devastating opioid crisis. The Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit focuses specifically on opioid-related health care fraud, using data to identify and prosecute individuals contributing to the prescription opioid epidemic. These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Greg Pizzo and Kelley Howard-Allen.
