Seven people have been charged in a prescription drug ring between State College and Bellefonte.
Attorney General Linda Kelly and Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller announced criminal charges Thursday against seven individuals whom they say conspired to illegally obtain prescription drugs from several pharmacies, according to a news release.
An investigation was launched after Wegman’s Pharmacy, 345 Colonnade Blvd., reported bogus prescriptions had been filled under the name Alicia Barger, having been allegedly prescribed by Dr. Evan Bell.
Dr. Bell is in fact, a licensed Medical Physician and Surgeon who practices at the Mount Nittany Physician Group in State College.
The investigation, run by the Agents from the Drug Diversion Unit of the Office of the Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotics Investigation and Drug Control found out that a former medical assistant in Dr. Bell’s office, Lisa Clevenstine, stole numerous blank prescriptions from the doctor’s office while she worked there, according to the press release.
Clevenstine forged Dr. Bell’s signature and his Drug Enforcement Administration number on the blank prescriptions and proceeded to have 48 prescriptions filled in the names of a number of people, including her husband, their two daughters and her niece.
Her niece, Tiffany Tice, found out that her aunt was forging prescriptions under her name, according to the press release. She told her friends, Travis Snedden and Chelsea Musser about the scam, prompting Snedden to ask Tice for blank prescriptions so that they could get them, too.
Snedden got his friends on board, too, according to the press release. Daniel Bertolet agreed to forge Dr. Bell’s signature and Musser was the driver to the pharmacies, according to the press release. Alicia Barger and Brandi Gummo agreed to go to the pharmacies and use their names to get the drugs, according to the news release.
The drugs that were obtained include: Endocet, Percocet, Oxycodone, Vyvanse, Dexedrine and Adderal.
The pharmacies involved in State College include: Wegman’s, Wal-Mart on Benner Pike, and Giant in Northland Center.
The pharmacies involved in Bellefonte include: Plumb’s Drug Store, CVS Pharmacy and Rite-Aid Pharmacy.
