Man Pleads Guilty In Painkiller Case Involving Union County Doctor

A Monmouth County man pleaded guilty to the illegal distribution of a prescription painkiller that he obtained by using false prescriptions from a doctor, authorities said.

David Roth, 43, of Marlboro, pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree distribution of narcotics, according to a news release from acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman.

Roth entered the plea before state Superior Court Judge Ronald Lee Reisner, sitting in Freehold. Under the terms of the plea agreement, the state will recommend a seven year prison term when Roth is sentenced.

“Roth conspired with a doctor to obtain large quantities of oxycodone, which is the gateway drug by which far too many people in New Jersey are starting down the road of opiate addiction – a road which frequently leads to heroin use, overdoses and death,” Hoffman said in a prepared statement. “We’re putting this drug dealer and the doctor who supplied him in prison, where they no longer will be able to callously profit by diverting these potentially deadly pills into the black market.”

According to the state’s news release:

When he entered the plea, Roth admitted that he illegally distributed oxycodone pills that he obtained with false prescriptions that were written by Dr. Eugene Evans Jr., 56, of Roselle Park. Evans has already entered a guilty plea in the case and is awaiting sentencing.

The two men were charged after an investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) New Jersey Field Division Tactical Diversion Squad and the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice Prescription Fraud Investigation Strike Team.

That DEA squad is made up of DEA agents, task force officers from local police departments, and diversion investigators.

The investigation, which included a review of records in the New Jersey Prescription Monitoring Program, determined that between January 2012 and March 2014, Evans issued fraudulent prescriptions in the names of more than a dozen people for more than 20,000 high-dose 30 milligram tablets of oxycodone.

The doctor wrote the prescriptions in the names of people he never treated.

Roth recruited people who were willing to have prescriptions written in their names, then supplied those names and birth dates to the doctor.

Evans wrote multiple prescriptions at a time for each of the purported patients.

Then Roth and that person went to a pharmacy to fill the prescription. Roth paid Evans for writing the prescriptions, and he paid the so-called patients, either in cash, prescription drugs, or both.

Roth then sold the pills, typically selling each 30 milligram oxycodone tablet for $20 or $30.

“Like any other drug dealer, Mr. Roth’s main concern is making a profit without regard to the damage he is doing to individuals and the community,’’ Carl J. Kotowski, Special Agent in Charge for the DEA’s New Jersey Division said in a prepared statement. “We will continue to pursue these violators as vigorously as we do all drug traffickers. DEA and our Tactical Diversion Squad are determined to make our communities safer.”

Evans pleaded guilty on April 24 to second-degree distribution of a controlled dangerous substance. The state is expected to recommend a five-year prison term at his sentencing, scheduled for June 26. He has surrendered his license to practice medicine.

A third defendant, Harold Nyhus, 53, of Freehold, pleaded guilty on April 24 to a charge of third-degree obtaining a controlled dangerous substance by fraud. He admitted that he filled fraudulent oxycodone prescriptions that Evans issued in his name and a second name. The state will recommend a three year prison term at his sentencing, also scheduled for June 26.

Deputy Attorney General Anthony P. Torntore is handling the state’s case.

Marlboro police established the initial leads in the investigation.

Hoffman commended the DEA New Jersey Field Division Tactical Diversion Squad and Marlboro police.

He also thanked the state Division of Consumer Affairs’ Enforcement Bureau, Howell Township Police Department, Freehold Borough Police Department, Keansburg Police Department, Ontario County Sheriff’s Office (Canandaigua, N.Y.), Veterans Affairs Police (Canandaigua, N.Y.), and the Roselle Park Police Department.

Photos courtesy state Attorney General’s Office; Dr. Eugene Evans Jr.; David Roth