Ex-Morris Principal Sentenced In $2.7M Prescription Drug Scheme

MORRIS TOWNSHIP, NJ — A former Morris County principal was officially sentenced this week to three years of probation for his role in a pharmaceutical fraud scheme.

Peter Frazzano, 50, who worked as the former principal of the Sussex Avenue School in the Morris School District, was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay back restitution of $2.7 million.

Frazzano first pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud in federal court in 2019. Frazzano was accused of defrauding the N.J. State Health Benefits Plan by billing for fake prescriptions.

Frazzano's brother-in-law, Matthew Puccio, 41, of Randolph, was sentenced earlier this year, in June, to five years in federal prison and $2.65 million in restitution in connection with the same scheme.

Frazzano chose not to stand trial and instead accepted a plea deal in which he also agreed to forfeit $270,751 in criminal proceeds. As part of his probation agreement, his whereabouts will be tracked for a year.

According to the agreement, Frazzano will be prohibited from leaving his residence aside for employment, religious, educational, medical and court-ordered purposes.

U.S. District Judge John Michael Vazquez also ordered special financial disclosures and debt restrictions.

According to U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger, Frazzano was part of a conspiracy that involved submitting fraudulent prescriptions for compound medications to public health benefits programs from November 2014 to March 2016.

Compounded medications, also known as altered drugs, are sometimes prescribed for people with specific medical conditions. According to Sellinger, compound drugs are properly prescribed when a physician determines that an FDA-approved medication does not meet a specific patient's health needs, such as allergies to a specific ingredient.

Authorities claim Frazzano assisted in the recruitment of a doctor, the identity of whom has not been released, to prescribe compounded scar creams, pain creams, and metabolic supplements to individuals.

Officials say he also recruited a doctor to sign prescriptions for him without ever actually interacting with him. As a sales representative for an unnamed company, Frazzano pocketed commissions on their filled orders.