This post was originally published on this site
Sentencing of a former pharmacist accused of stealing more than $1 million worth of prescription drugs and reselling them was again postponed, this time to give the accused time to recover from a planned surgery.
U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson concluded a hearing in Columbus Thursday by telling Maria Mascio, 62, that a prison sentence would be in order.
“The question is, ‘How long?’” he said.
Mascio owned and operated a pharmacy on Karl Road on the Northeast Side for decades, renting space to doctors in the same building, according to federal court documents.
She was indicted in late 2014 on nearly four dozen counts, alleging she and her employees took free samples of drugs from doctor offices, removed them from their packaging, added them to pharmacy stock and resold them, billing private insurers, Medicare, Medicaid and workers’ compensation programs in the process. The activities took place from 2003 to 2013, according to documents.
In May 2017, as part of deal, Mascio agreed to plead guilty to health-care fraud and conspiracy counts and repay $1.1 million. The initial agreement called for a prison sentence of up to 12 months.
But Watson deferred sentencing on the matter, awaiting the completion of a report on Mascio’s medical condition. He also wanted a tougher sentence recommendation.
Her attorneys said in subsequent legal filings that Mascio has Alzheimer’s disease and significant cognitive impairment, along with other severe health issues.
Her behavior during the May hearing was bizarre at times, with Mascio at one point asking the judge whether she could clean his kitchen.
She made no such statements Thursday as she shuffled into court, sat hunched over in a chair and gave short answers, sometimes with prompting.
Mascio’s attorneys have asked for eight months of home confinement as punishment in the case.
Federal prosecutors countered in court filings, however, that Mascio’s behavior was part of an act, noting that she began walking normally after leaving the courthouse and later drove herself to a pharmacy to pick up medications, having no problem communicating and interacting with staff.
Judge Watson also voiced skepticism.
“Yet here you are this morning apparently with the same act again,” he told her Thursday.
A final pre-sentence investigative report includes a recommended prison term of 87 months.