Cherry Hill Anesthesiologist Sold Oxycodone: U.S. Attorney

CHERRY HILL, NJ — Two South Jersey men and a Philadelphia man have been arrested and charged in connection with a South Jersey-Philadelphia drug trafficking ring that sold over 1,100 oxycodone pills, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced on Thursday.

Anthony Pepe III, 40, of Cherry Hill; Daniel Watson, 39, of Bellmawr; and Prussia Hing, 35, of Philadelphia, were arrested on June 26, 2018 for their alleged roles in the oxycodone distribution ring. Pepe is an anesthesiologist at a hospital in Philadelphia.

The 1,180 pills they are accused of trafficking were a mix between unadulterated oxycodone (680) and oxycodone pills that were mixed with hydrocodone, codeine, and methylphenidate (500), authorities said.

An undercover agent participated in eight sales with the three men between January 2018 and May 16, 2018, authorities said. Three of those eight drug deals took place outside the hospital in which Pepe worked. In one instance, Pepe made the sale while wearing his work scrubs, authorities said. The sales are alleged to have taken place between January 2018 and at least May 16, 2018.

“Philadelphia and Camden are awash in opioids, with the human toll mounting steadily, day by day,” said Michael T. Harpster, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “The idea of a medical professional taking a work break to push pills on the street, as alleged in the complaint, is at once disheartening and infuriating. The FBI will continue to doggedly investigate and bring to justice traffickers contributing to our area’s opioid crisis.”

The other alleged deals took place in Bellmawr, with one at a store near Watson’s house, another in his car and the other three in a truck belonging to an undercover agent, authorities said. All these alleged deals involved the undercover agent, but authorities believe the sales continued beyond that date with other people who are not undercover agents.

If convicted, they each face a potential of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

Patch file photo