Doctor sentenced in drug scheme

TRENTON — A Little Silver doctor was sentenced to 57 months in prison Monday, after admitting to writing more than 6,000 illegal prescriptions for oxycodone in a massive three-county prescription drug ring bust that netted 28 arrests and convictions.

Jacqueline Lopresti, 52, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and 11 counts of distribution of oxycodone, said Matthew Reilly, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney?s Office. Lopresti also was sentenced to three years of supervised release, was ordered to forfeit $465,000 and was fined $5,000.

In 2009, Lopresti issued prescriptions to co-conspirators for drugs containing oxycodone, outside the usual course of medical practice and without any legitimate medical purpose, Reilly said. Prescriptions were filled at different pharmacies located across Monmouth, Ocean and Atlantic counties, which were then redistributed to others.

Federal authorities in 2011 said Lopresti and Christopher Erwin, 49, then an unemployed landscaper from Barnegat with whom she had a sexual relationship, masterminded the distribution of the drugs. Erwin was sentenced on Thursday to 15 years and eight months in prison.

But Reilly said Monday that Erwin and Stephen Sampson, 52, of the Manahawkin section of Stafford, were the leaders of the distribution ring, which used doctors, specifically Dr. Hassan Lahham and Lopresti, to collect the prescriptions.

Last week, Lahham also was sentenced to nine years in prison for his connection to the scheme, Reilly said. Sampson will serve eight years, Reilly said.

Erwin and Sampson would visit the doctors and pay for the prescriptions in their names and in the names of other people. They then would acquire the oxycodone for further distribution, Reilly said.

The co-defendants include: Christopher Keosseian, 48, of Belmar; Joseph Keosseian, 46, of Belmar; James Baker, 51, of Forked River; Alex Bushman, 47, of Manahawkin; Heather Dockery, 28, of Barnegat; Wendy Galati, 45, of Toms River; Edward Gural, 37, of Barnegat; Donald Johnson, 32, of Barnegat; Bryan Lewicki, 36, of Barnegat; Gregory Man, 50, of Surf City; Carter Nies, 36, of Barnegat; Jonathan Puggi, 35, of Little Egg Harbor; Henry Shubert, 43, of Waretown; Kyle Skora, 33, of Toms River; Crescenzo Terranova, 51, of Little Egg Harbor; and Robert Walton III, 55, of Manahawkin.

The Drug Enforcement Administration?s New Jersey Division, along with the special agents, diversion investigators, task force officers, detectives and intelligence analysts of the Atlantic City Resident Office, Camden Resident Office Diversion Group, Seaside Heights Police Department, Barnegat Police Department, Ship Bottom Police Department, and the state DEA Tactical Diversion Squad are credited with the investigation leading to Monday?s sentencing.

The Asbury Park Press asked the U.S. Attorney's Office for a photo of the suspect, but they did not respond to the request by deadline. State law allows authorities discretion in releasing suspect photos, but they often refuse to do so, saying they are prohibited by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

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