LI Pharmacist Charged With Taking Cash To Fill Prescriptions: DOJ

A pharmacist from the Five Towns who ran a pharmacy in Queens was arrested today and faces 12 charges relating to illegally selling opiates and filing false tax returns, authorities said.

Daniel E. Russo, 40, of Cedarhurst, was charged in a 12-count indictment with conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute oxycodone, distribution and possession of oxycodone, distribution of oxycodone by a pharmacist without legitimate prescription and filing false tax returns. Russo was released on a $1.5 million bond. He could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Russo owns and operates Russo's Pharmacy in Far Rockaway, Queens. According to U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue, between March 2011 and June 2014, Russo conspired with medical professionals and physicians' employees to fill fraudulent oxycodone prescriptions and dispense thousands of oxycodone pills in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Donoghue said that Russo also filed false corporate income tax returns from 2013 through 2016 to try to cover up the money he was making.

Donoghue said that Russo failed to report more than $1 million in cash earnings, most of which came from his illegal oxycodone distribution scheme.

More than a dozen physicians for whom Russo filled prescriptions have since been convicted of crimes related to the distribution of oxycodone.

“We can count the hundreds of thousands of dollars Russo allegedly pocketed from the charged scheme, but the resulting human misery in our communities is incalculable,” said United States Attorney Donoghue. “This office will continue working with federal and local law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute medical professionals who seek to profit from the opioid epidemic.”

The investigation was led by the DEA’s Long Island Tactical Diversion Squad, comprising agents and officers of the DEA, Nassau County Police Department, Suffolk County Police Department, Port Washington Police Department and Rockville Centre Police Department.

“It is a misconception that pharmacists can hide their role in illegal drug distribution by blindly following what doctors have prescribed for their patients,” said DEA Special Agent-in-Charge Ray Donovan. “By law, pharmacists must practice due diligence, and take their corresponding responsibility seriously. If diversion of prescriptions is suspected, and merely cast aside to make a quick dollar, the pharmacist is no better than a dealer on the street. Today’s arrest reemphasizes law enforcement’s commitment to identifying and arresting all of those responsible for furthering drug abuse and overdose deaths throughout our hometowns.”