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A former Medford pharmacist was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison Thursday for illegally distributing painkillers from two drugstores.
Michael Ludwikowski, who owned Olde Medford Pharmacy and Medford Family Pharmacy, sold drugs to customers who presented phony prescriptions from March 2008 through August 2013, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey.
It alleged Ludwikowski, 46, knew the painkillers were “not going to be used for legitimate medical reasons.”
According to the federal prosecutor’s office, some customers presented prescriptions that had been “bleached” to remove the original writing.
“The customers then rewrote the prescriptions for their drug of choice, oxycodone,” it said.
The prosecutor’s office also said Ludwikowski and a druggist he employed, David Goldfield of Medford Lakes, ignored concerns raised by an employee who pointed out “an obviously altered prescription.”
Goldfield, 60, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to a conspiracy charge in December 2016.
Customers with bogus prescriptions typically paid in cash and gave gifts to the pharmacists, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Some filled painkiller prescriptions “multiple times a week,” it asserted.
Investigators learned of the Stokes Road pill mills after Ludwikowski told the FBI he was facing extortion threats from two former customers in June 2013. Dontees Jones of Clementon and Matthew Lawson of Willingboro were later convicted of conspiring to extort the druggist and to possess oxycodone with the intent to distribute.
A former employee of Olde Medford Pharmacy pleaded guilty in April 2015 to stealing thousands of prescription painkillers. Krystal Wood of Pemberton Township allegedly made more than $32,000 by selling painkillers from August 2012 through May 2013.
An indictment also noted three men had admitted they filled phony prescriptions through Ludwikowski and Goldfield.
Ludwikowski was convicted last August of illegally distributing and dispensing oxycodone after a five-week trial in federal court in Camden. He also was found guilty of maintaining a drug-involved premises.