Williamsville Doctor Pleads Guilty To Prescription Drug Charge
(BUFFALO, N.Y. - - Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. and Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt, Drug Enforcement (DEA) New York Division announced today that Dr. Yusuf Siddiqui, 72, of Williamsville, NY, pleaded guilty to obtaining controlled substances by fraud before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo. The charge carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
DEA Special Agent in Charge James Hunt stated, “Over the years, DEA has arrested rogue doctors who sell prescription medication in exchange for money. This case revealed the sales were to enable a doctor’s own addiction as well as aiding in others’ drug use. This crime is not tolerated by law enforcement or by our communities who are embattled in a fight against opioid abuse.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Astorga, who is handling the case, stated that on October 13, 2016, the defendant, a physician licensed to practice medicine in the State of New York, wrote prescriptions for hydrocodone, a Schedule II controlled substance, and clonazepam, a Schedule IV controlled substance, to a patient that he had not examined. Siddiqui wrote the prescriptions with the expectation that he would receive a portion of the prescribed medication for his personal use. The defendant wrote the prescriptions at the request of the patient’s daughter whom Siddiqui knew was addicted to pain medication. The patient’s daughter was also a former employee of the defendant.
On October 13, 2016, Siddiqui picked the patient’s daughter up from her residence and gave her seven hydrocodone and seven clonazepam pills. Later that same day, the defendant drove the patient’s daughter to a pharmacy where she had the prescriptions filled.
When the patient’s daughter returned to the car, Siddiqui asked her to return the hydrocodone pills that he had given her earlier in the day. The patient’s daughter asked the defendant if he wanted more pills and he responded, “Yes” and took 30 hydrocodone pills.
The plea is the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement (DEA), Buffalo Resident Office, New York Division.
Sentencing is scheduled for April 24, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. before Judge Vilardo.
