Kenneth Lewandowski, 53, of Middletown pleaded guilty on Monday to distributing or dispensing oxycodone and unlawful practice of medicine by forging prescriptions for the powerful painkiller to be sold to former patients.
FREEHOLD -- A suspended Middletown physician has admitted to being part of a prescription painkiller ring by writing fake prescriptions for opiates under another doctor's name, officials said on Tuesday.
Kenneth Lewandowski, 53, of Middletown pleaded guilty on Monday to distributing or dispensing oxycodone and unlawful practice of medicine by forging prescriptions for the powerful painkiller to be sold to former patients.
Lewandowski admitted to Superior Court Judge Joseph Oxley in Freehold that after his license to practice medicine in New Jersey was suspended, he got blank prescription pads in the name of a doctor with whom he was in discussions about going into business together in 2014.
Middletown doctor accused of leading ring selling fake drug prescriptions
Lewandowski gave some of those prescription pads to his office manager, who allegedly sold the slips to some of Lewandowski's former patients so that they could obtain oxycodone pills each, Gramiccioni said.
Lewandowski, who had a pain management center in Red Bank, admitted he forged the prescriptions using the name of the other doctor for four of his former patients who got 120 oxycodone pills each, the acting prosecutor said. He also admitted to signing the doctor's name without his permission and indicated that the doctor had never treated those patients, Gramiccioni said.
The office manager, Thomas Menendez, is charged with selling the prescription pads and is awaiting trial. He is charged with conspiracy, unlawful practice of medicine, distribution of a controlled dangerous substance, forgery and uttering a forged document.
Gramiccioni said Lewandowski and Menendez sold the prescriptions for $300 to $400 each.
He said Lewandowski also conspired with Ronald Scott, a 65-year-old physician's assistant from Toms River who wrote prescriptions for Lewandowski's former patients without the approval of a licensed physician.
"Dr. Lewandowski and others like him are directly responsible for breathing renewed life into the deadly epidemic of prescription opiates and heroin abuse that is killing people across the country," Gramiccioni said. "These actions are a perversion of the special duty of care we place in the hands of our medical professionals. This is an affront to us all - a parasitic doctor choosing profit in exchange for opiates enslavement that could lead to death."
Lewandowski was arrested on Dec. 18, 2014 as part of a joint investigation into a suspected prescription drug ring. In the joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, the Middletown Police Department and the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, authorities learned that Lewandowski, whose license to practice medicine and surgery was under a temporary suspension, conspired with Menendez to sell forged prescription blanks for oxycodone.
Middletown police began an investigation after receiving information from a local pharmacy that someone presented a fake prescription for oxycodone on November 24, 2014.
Around the same time, the doctor whose name was being used for the prescriptions filed a complaint with the Department of Community Affairs that prescriptions were being issued without his knowledge.
Investigators seized several forged prescription pads, medical records and cash from Lewandowski's home during a search.
In return for his plea, the state is going to recommend that he be sentenced on April 15 to six years in prison and will have to permanently give up his medical license, Gramiccioni said.
MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
