Warren Doctor Sentenced For Giving Pain Pills To Drug Ring: AG

WARREN, NJ — A Warren doctor was sentenced to state prison for supplying a drug ring with tens of thousands of high-dose pills of the highly addictive opioid painkiller oxycodone, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced Monday.

Dr. George Beecher, 78, of New Providence an ear, nose and throat specialist who formerly had a practice in Warren, was sentenced to 10 years in state prison.

Beecher has been allowed to remain free on bail while he pursues an appeal of his conviction.

Beecher pleaded guilty on Sept. 19 to second-degree charges of conspiracy and distribution of a controlled dangerous substance (oxycodone), following an investigation called “Operation Busted Script” by the Attorney General’s Prescription Fraud Investigation Strike Team, a team of detectives and attorneys in the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau that targets corrupt healthcare professionals and “pill mills.”

Beecher permanently surrendered his medical license as a result of the guilty plea, according to the report.

An investigation found that Beecher wrote prescriptions without a legitimate medical purpose for tens of thousands of 30 mg oxycodone pills in the names of people he never examined, treated, or even met — in order to supply the drug ring.

Seven members of the oxycodone distribution ring were indicted separately and all seven pleaded guilty to second-degree charges of conspiracy and distribution of oxycodone.

• See Related: Doctor Faces Jail, 7 Others In Statewide NJ Opioid Drug Ring

Andrew Stoveken, 68, of Edison pleaded guilty on Aug. 21 and is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 14. He faces a recommended sentence of seven years in prison.

Stoveken ran a hearing aid company and shared an office with Beecher. He acted as a middleman between Beecher and the drug ring, according to the report.

“Doctors like Beecher who prescribe opioids for illegal distribution are at least as culpable as the drug dealers they supply, because they use their licenses not to heal, but to inflict incalculable harm,” said Attorney General Grewal. “This prison sentence reflects our determination to stop the doctors and pill mills supplying the black market for opioid pain pills, which are starting so many users on the devastating and often deadly path of opioid addiction.”

(Image via Attorney General's Office: Dr. George Beecher, 78, of New Providence, who was an ear, nose and throat specialist who formerly had a practice in Warren.)

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