DA Says Patterson Man, Ex-Police Officer, Forged Hydrocodone Prescriptions

Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore announced that Joseph Russo, 50, of Patterson NY was arraigned today on a Felony Complaint charging him with:

• one count of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, a class “D” Felony,
• one count of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, a class “E” Felony.

The timeframe is between Feb. 22, 2011 and July 5, 2013, according to the DA’s statement.

Russo, a former Mount Vernon police officer, possessed unauthorized prescriptions bearing the forged signatures of at least two physicians, which listed the defendant or the defendant’s wife as the patient.

According to the complaint, Russo submitted the forged prescriptions to pharmacies in Mount Vernon and other locations in New York to obtain at least 3,790 Hydrocodone pills.

Then he partially paid for the pills by filing false claims with his medical insurance provider, United Health Group, the DA said.

One specific example occurred on April 12, 2011, when Russo took a prescription with a forged doctor’s signature to the CVS at 24 West Grand St. in Mount Vernon and received 30 pills of Hydrocodone.

The fraud came to light when the insurer, Express Scripts, became suspicious and contacted police.

Russo surrendered to Mount Vernon police today for arraignment, the DA said in her statement. He was released on his own recognizance and his next court date is pending.

He faces a maximum sentence of seven years in state prison.

Russo defrauded the pharmacists, his medical insurance provider and the doctors whose prescription pads he stole, the DA said. Assistant District Attorney Brian Conway, Deputy Chief of the Public Integrity Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Stephen Ronco of the Public Integrity Bureau are prosecuting the case.