Dentist Gave Out Pills for Sex, Morris Prosecutor Says

A Roxbury dentist pleaded guilty to drug dispensing charges Monday after Morris County Acting Prosecutor Fredric Knapp said he gave out pain-relieving Percocet pills in exchange for sex.

Dr. Ronald Jupiter, 62, of Roxbury, could face three years in state prison and be forced to pay $5,000 if he wishes to have his wife's 2005 Acura, which was seized at the time of his arrest, returned.

The charges against him are for unlawfully dispensing a Schedule II Controlled Dangerous Substance without medical purpose by providing prescriptions to individuals that Jupiter was not medically treating.

“Prescription drug abuse is a national epidemic, and enablers such as Dr. Jupiter contribute to the public health crisis caused by this abuse,” Acting Attorney General John Hoffman said. "This investigation clearly highlights that law enforcement agencies stand united against the illegal flow of prescription drugs into New Jersey's communities."

Jupiter was investigated after a local pharmacist contacted the Roxbury Police Department concerned about "suspicious" pain medication prescriptions written by Jupiter, Knapp said. The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs began to investigate and found a pattern of what Knapp called "suspicious prescription dispensing" by Jupiter.

Officers from the Hopatcong Borough Police Department and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration went to Jupiter's office undercover and said they did not have dental pain or issues, Knapp said. Jupiter wrote the undercover officers prescriptions without conducting dental exams or talking about dental issues and then refused monetary payment but solicited for sex, Knapp said.

Jupiter is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 2.