TRENTON
- Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa announced
that a former Matawan doctor pleaded guilty
today to dispensing controlled dangerous substances
by writing prescriptions for medically unnecessary
pharmaceutical narcotics in return for cash
payments.
Ki
I. Song, 70, of Matawan, pleaded guilty
to third-degree dispensing of a controlled
dangerous substance before Superior Court
Judge Bradley J. Ferencz in Middlesex County.
The charge was contained in an Oct. 21,
2011 state grand jury indictment.
Judge
Ferencz scheduled the sentencing for May
7. Under the plea agreement, the state will
recommend Song be sentenced to 364 days
in county jail and a three-year term of
probation in addition to 40 hours of community
service. Song will also be ordered to pay
a $5,000 fine.
In
pleading guilty, Song, who until 2011 was
a licensed physician practicing in Jersey
City, admitted that on June 1, 2010 and
on or about March 19, 2011, he knowingly
wrote prescriptions for Xanax in return
for a payment of $100 without examining
the recipient of the prescription. Song
admitted that he made the exchanges with
the customers in a restaurant parking lot
on Route 1 in Woodbridge.
The
New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners permanently
revoked Song's medical license by voluntary
surrender on April 20, 2011. Deputy Attorney
General Kim Ringler handled the matter on
behalf of the Attorney General.
Acting
Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Ronald Chillemi
noted that the charge to which Song pleaded
guilty is the result of an investigation
by the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor's
Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Jersey
City Police Department's Special Investigation
Unit. This investigation stems from a prior
investigation by the agencies called Operation
MedScam.
Deputy
Attorney General David Noble, Sgt. Frederick
Weidman and Detective Kevin Gannon, were
assigned to this matter.