N.J. doctor gets 5+ years for selling prescriptions

A Pennsauken doctor who illegally sold oxycodone prescriptions was sentenced yesterday to more than five years in prison by a federal judge who said the doctor had abused the trust of patients and put lives at stake.

Pankaj Agrawal, who had a practice at the Pennsauken Medical Center before relinquishing his license a few months ago, also forfeited about $154,000 in proceeds that he admitted laundering in India.

Agrawal sold more than 70 prescriptions of the painkiller Percocet, which contains oxycodone, and cough syrup with codeine over about three years ending in June 2008, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Skahill. The prescriptions were purchased by a confidential informant and by patients, Skahill said.

"This doctor had reached the pinnacle of his profession and opened a supermarket to sell prescriptions for cash," U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler said in a Camden courtroom.

In March, the 61-year-old Winslow Township man pleaded guilty to one count each of illegally selling prescriptions and money laundering. Agrawal faced a maximum of 30 years in prison, but guidelines recommend between five and 61/2 years on the charges.

Agrawal, who was accompanied in court by four family members, asked the judge, through sniffles, to "please forgive me. I beg you, your honor. I know I am wrong."

He said he had sent the money to India with the intention of setting up a home there for the elderly.

His attorney, Vincent Pancari of Vineland, N.J., told the judge that Agrawal's health was deteriorating and that his family worried about what might happen if Agrawal went go to jail.

Kugler called the case tragic, but noted that Agrawal previously was convicted of Medicare fraud. "When he tells me he'll never commit another crime, it makes me wonder," the judge said. The fraud occurred in the 1970s.

Skahill urged the judge to send Agrawal to prison, remarking that the drugs he illegally provided access to can be deadly if not taken under medical supervision.