Prescription Drug Scheme Lands Morris Co. Man In Prison

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — A Morris County man was sentenced to five years in state prison for his role in a scheme to defraud public health benefits programs by billing for medically unnecessary prescriptions, federal authorities said.

Matthew Puccio, 41, of Randolph, was first convicted on July 19, 2022, of conspiracy to commit health care fraud following a seven-day jury trial before U.S. District Judge John Michael Vazquez.

U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced his sentencing on Friday, June 30.

Puccio's brother-in-law, former Sussex Avenue Elementary School principal Peter Frazzano, previously pleaded guilty in 2019 to a similar fraud scheme.

Puccio was part of a conspiracy that involved submitting fraudulent prescriptions for compound medications to public health benefits programs from November 2014 to March 2016.

According to Sellinger, marketing firms recruited and compensated sales representatives like Puccio to obtain compound medications for themselves and others regardless of medical necessity, with a focus on health plans that reimbursed for compound medications at a high rate.

Compounded medications, or altered drugs, are sometimes prescribed for people who have specific conditions, such as allergies to a specific ingredient, Sellinger said.

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.

According to authorities, Puccio took advantage of this opportunity by working as a sales representative for a number of compounding pharmacies.

Puccio and others targeted and recruited people with health plans that covered compounded medications and then enlisted the help of two New Jersey physicians to write bogus prescriptions for these people.

"Once the prescriptions were written, they were filled by the compounding pharmacies with which Puccio worked. The compounding pharmacies would then receive reimbursement from the health plans and would pay Puccio a percentage of the reimbursement amount. Puccio and his conspirators caused a significant loss to public health benefits programs," Sellinger said.

In addition to the prison term, Puccio was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $2.65 million in restitution by Judge Vazquez.