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An Orange County physician assistant was arrested Tuesday on federal charges alleging he sold oxycodone prescriptions to drug dealers for cash, according to federal prosecutors.
R. Wadie Iskander, who practices at a clinic in Fountain Valley, was arrested at his home in the morning and was expected to appear in court for his arraignment later Tuesday afternoon, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. He faces a maximum possible sentence of 60 years in federal prison if convicted of all charges.
Iskander, 53, of Ladera Ranch wrote fraudulent oxycodone prescriptions for co-defendants J. Gilbert Alvarez, 39, a.k.a. “M.J.,” of Santa Ana and A. Anton Roggero, 36, of Costa Mesa, according to an 11-count federal indictment. He allegedly provided the drug dealers with paper prescriptions bearing his signature and left blank where the patient’s name would later be filled in by dealers.
The indictment states Iskander wrote out prescriptions for people he had never examined or even met — including an undercover officer — between October 2018 and April 2019. Alvarez and Roggero allegedly sold the drugs on the street and to an undercover officer.
Iskander has been charged with two counts of intentionally distributing oxycodone without a medical purpose, and he and the two other defendants each face one count of conspiracy, prosecutors said.
Alvarez also faces felony charges of illegally distributing methamphetamine, fentanyl and oxycodone. Prosecutors said he faces a maximum possible sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years.
Meanwhile, Roggero has been charged with two felony counts of drug distribution and faces a statutory maximum sentence of 60 years in prison.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Costa Mesa Police Department and California Department of Health Care Services investigated the case.