MO: St. Charles Woman Sentenced for Prescription Drug, Health Care Fraud

Healthcare Fraud – Rx Fraud

U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Friday sentenced a woman from St. Charles who fraudulently obtained prescription drugs for herself and her children and then sold them to others, including an undercover agent, to two years of probation, including four months of home detention, and 20 hours of community service.

Katie Diana Rooney, 39, pleaded guilty at the start of Friday’s hearing to a health care fraud charge and a charge of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud.

Rooney admitted that on numerous occasions from July 11, 2018 to October 2018, she visited a doctor and falsely claimed to need prescription medications for medical conditions that she or her children had. She had already decided to sell some or all of the drugs, including the ADHD drug Adderall, oxycodone and the antianxiety drug alprazolam, to other people, and did so. 

During the investigation, Rooney had an undercover law enforcement agent drive her to a pharmacy so she could obtain and then immediately sell the drugs to the agent, Rooney’s plea says. 

Rooney and her children were enrolled in Missouri’s Medicaid program, MO HealthNet, and Rooney knew that pharmacies would request and receive reimbursement from Medicaid for the drugs she received, her plea says.

“As the fight against the opioid crisis continues, we remain committed to investigating fraudsters who seek to profit from prescription drug fraud, especially scams involving powerful controlled substance medications,” said Special Agent in Charge Curt L. Muller of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “HHS-OIG will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold bad actors accountable.”

The HHS-OIG, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the St. Charles Regional Drug Task force, and the Missouri Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Dorothy McMurtry prosecuted the case.

Press Release