LI Men, Including Dentist, Illegally Prescribed Opioids: DA

TOWN OF OYSTER BAY, NY — A Farmingdale dentist and a Town of Oyster Bay worker were indicted in connection with a scheme to sell opioid prescriptions from 2017 to 2021, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced Friday.

Dr. Jason DiBlasi, 49, of Farmingdale, who has a dental office in Massapequa, was charged with 113 counts of criminal sale of a prescription for a controlled substance by a practitioner or pharmacist (a C felony). DiBlasi pleaded not guilty, was released to pre-trial services, and is due back in court on Jan. 9, 2023. DiBlasi also previously surrendered his DEA license to prescribe. If convicted of the charges, he faces a potential maximum of 5-and-a-half years in prison.

Marco Cotto, 52, from Farmingdale, was arraigned on 63 counts of criminal sale of a prescription for a controlled substance by a practitioner or pharmacist (a C felony) and 23 counts of fourth-degree criminal diversion of prescription medications and prescriptions (an A misdemeanor). Cotto pleaded not guilty and is set to return to court on the same date as DiBlasi. Cotto also faces a maximum sentence of 5-and-a-half years in prison if convicted of the top charge.

“Thousands of Long Islanders have lost their lives in the last decade due to the 0pioid epidemic,” Donnelly said via a news release. “In this case, a respected dentist is accused of supplying more than a hundred opioid prescriptions, through an intermediary, to people he did not meet or examine. The diversion of powerful prescription pain medicines has wreaked havoc on our communities, and I thank the DEA for their assistance in this investigation.”

DiBlasi is a dentist licensed with New York state since November 2006 and operates an office at 690 Broadway, Massapequa, Donnelly said.

During the course of an investigation into a fatal overdose, NCDA detective investigators became aware of DiBlasi’s prescribing patterns as a general dentist, authorities said.

Between May 2021 and September 2021, investigators from the NCDA and DEA interviewed dozens of people who had received prescriptions from DiBlasi, prosecutors said. The investigators learned that DiBlasi was issuing prescriptions for opioids, including oxycodone and hydrocodone/acetaminophen, to people whom DiBlasi had never examined or never met or spoken to, officials said.

DiBlasi knew Cotto, who approached people he knew and invited them into the prescription scheme, authorities said.

Cotto, who is employed by the Town of Oyster Bay, was accused of receiving personal information, including name, date of birth, insurance information and preferred pharmacy from these contacts and then supplying that information to DiBlasi, Donnelly said. Cotto then told people that the prescription was ready and Cotto was paid between $150 to $200 or received a portion of the pills, authorities said.

Cotto paid DiBlasi between $50 and $100 for the prescriptions steered to him for a total of approximately $5,000 between May 2017 and April 2021, prosecutors said.

Neither DiBlasi nor Cotto were charged in connection with the fatal overdose.

“In a case of clear disregard for medical integrity, Dr. DiBlasi with the assistance of another, allegedly distributed oxycodone to not only individuals that he didn’t treat as patients, but also to total strangers," said DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank A. Tarentino III. "In the midst of the opioid crisis with the highest number of American poisoning deaths ever recorded, this supposed medical professional undoubtedly put lives at risk. The DEA is committed to investigating medical professionals and registrants who contribute to drug abuse and addiction within our communities. I commend the work of our Long Island District Office Diversion Group and the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office for their dedication and hard work on this investigation.”

Cotto was arrested on Thursday at his home, while DiBlasi surrendered Friday morning to NCDA’s Detective Investigators, the DA said.

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Investigative Counsel Brian Rodriguez of the narcotics, firearms and gangs bureau. DiBlasi is represented by Marc Gann, Esq. Cotto was represented by Mindy Plotkin, Esq. at arraignment.