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TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal
Justice Director Deborah Gramiccioni announced
that a Matawan pharmacist was sentenced
today for an insurance claims theft.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Judith H. Leonard, 49, of Little
Silver, was sentenced by Superior Court
Judge Bette Uhrmacher in Monmouth County
to serve one year probation, and to pay
$1,210 in restitution to Horizon Blue Cross
Blue Shield. Leonard previously paid a $2,500
civil insurance fraud fine. Leonard was
sentenced pursuant to her May 16 guilty
plea to an accusation charging her with
theft by deception.
In
pleading guilty, Leonard, who formerly was
licensed as a pharmacist in the State of
New Jersey, admitted that between May 26,
2001 and May 6, 2004, while employed as
a pharmacist at the Foodtown Pharmacy in
Ocean Township, she falsified 22 prescriptions
in order to obtain the drug Phrenilin. Leonard
admitted that no physician had prescribed
the medication for her. By falsifying the
prescriptions, Leonard admitted that she
caused the Foodtown Pharmacy to submit prescription
claims to Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield
for Phrenilin on her behalf. As a result,
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield paid $1,210
for the prescriptions.
Detective
Anne Hayes, Civil Investigator Janice Lucas,
and Deputy Attorney General Joan M. Burke
were assigned to the investigation. Burke
represented the state at the sentencing.
This case was referred to OIFP by the Special
Investigative Unit of Horizon Blue Cross
Blue Shield, which initially uncovered the
fraud and assisted OIFP in the investigation.
Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Brown thanked
Horizon for its assistance in this matter.
Leonard
had surrendered her pharmacist’s license
in 2004 to the Board of Pharmacy. The Enforcement
Bureau of the Professional Licensing Boards
and the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
routinely coordinate with respect to investigations
of professional licensees, and the Enforcement
Bureau greatly assists OIFP with respect
to such investigations.
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