United States Drug Enforcement Administration

JAN 10 - HARTFORD, Conn. - Michael J. Ferguson Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England and Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Alejandro Prosper, also known as “Pun,” 36, of New Haven, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 57 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for his role in a scheme to distribute oxycodone that was obtained through fraudulent prescriptions.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2012, members of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad began an investigation into a drug trafficking organization that manufactured fraudulent prescriptions for oxycodone and distributed the drug in the greater New Haven area.  As part of the conspiracy, members of organization obtained the personal identifying information of medical practitioners and used the information to create fraudulent prescriptions.  Conspiracy members also purchased legitimate prescriptions for oxycodone from individuals.  The organization then used individuals, or “runners,” to fill the fraudulent prescriptions at pharmacies throughout Connecticut.  Once a runner provided his or her personal information to a member of the organization, the runner’s information was kept on file and used to create other fraudulent prescriptions.  Prosper purchased large quantities of illegally-obtained oxycodone from Julian Cintron and David Thompson, and sold the pills, as well as other narcotics, to his own customers.

The investigation revealed that, between February 2013 and September 2015, the organization stole the personal identifying information of more than 50 doctors and medical professionals and fraudulently obtained more than 80,000 oxycodone pills.  Investigators identified more than 800 fraudulent prescriptions passed by members of the organization using more than 270 different “patient” names.

Nearly all of the runners employed by the conspiracy held state-sponsored medical insurance, so the costs of the prescriptions were billed to Medicaid.  Members of the drug trafficking organization then sold the oxycodone for $20 to $30 per 30 milligram pill.  On October 18, 2016, Prosper pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone.  Eleven individuals have been charged as a result of the investigation.  Cintron and Thompson, both of New Haven, pleaded guilty and await sentencing.

The DEA Tactical Diversion Squad includes members from the Bristol, Greenwich, Hamden, Milford, New Haven, Shelton, Vernon and Wilton Police Departments.