South Jersey pharmacist convicted of selling opioids to drug users
A Burlington County pharmacist was accused of providing drugs to customers who had phony prescriptions.
A Burlington County pharmacist was convicted Tuesday on federal charges of illegally selling oxycodone pills to drug users who gave him fraudulent prescriptions and paid in cash.
Michael Ludwikowski, 45, of Medford, owns the Olde Medford Pharmacy and the Medford Family Pharmacy. Federal investigators said that from 2008 through 2013, he knowingly dispensed the drug and other controlled substances to customers who did not have valid prescriptions. In some cases, the customers presented prescriptions for non-narcotic drugs that had been bleached, then altered to request oxycodone.
The trial followed the guilty plea of codefendant David M. Goldfield, a pharmacist whom Ludwikowski had hired to work at Olde Medford Pharmacy; Krystal Wood, another former employee of Olde Medford Pharmacy; and pleas by former customers Dontees Jones, Matthew Lawson, and Patrick Clark.
Customers who used the altered prescriptions generally paid cash and provided gifts to Ludwikowski and Goldfield, authorities said.
Ludwikowski's conviction on five counts of illegal distribution of oxycodone and one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises came following a five-week trial before U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle in federal court in Camden. He faces up to 20 years in prison for each of the six counts, and a maximum fine of $1.5 million.