Fairfield Doctor Pleads Guilty to Illegally Prescribing Oxycodone

FAIRFIELD, CT—A Fairfield doctor's shady practices allowed a large amount of opioid pills to make their way to the streets for illegal resale, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

Fairfield Dr. Paul Bellofiore, 56, of Trumbull pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to illegally prescribing oxycodone.

“Medical practitioners play a critical role in battling the epidemic of opioid abuse that we are experiencing,” said U.S. Attorney Deidre Daly. “The strict rules associated with prescribing controlled substances are in place for a reason: to help ensure that these highly-addictive narcotics aren’t abused or illegally diverted."

Two of Bellofiore's longtime patients were a married couple who lived in Connecticut until 2011 and then relocated to Florida. Bellofiore was aware that the couple obtained forged prescriptions from his former medical assistant, according to the U.S. Attorney District of Connecticut office.

The couple would travel to Connecticut about twice per year and Bellofiore would write six months of prescriptions, including prescriptions for oxycodone.

Sometimes Bellofiore would leave prescriptions for a friend or relative with the understanding that the friend or relative would fill the prescription and mail the medication to Florida.

In February 2016 he left a stack of prescriptions to a friend of the married couple that were improperly dated to appear that they were issued at monthly intervals, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. The stack allowed the couple to receive thousands of oxycodone and Percocet pills and the prescriptions didn't note that the couple lived in Florida.

The couple diverted a significant amount of their medication to a middleman for street-level resale of the pills in and around Waterbury.

Bellofiore faces a maximum of a year in prison and a $100,000 fine when he is sentenced.