October 25, 2007

Hewlett Pharmacist Arrested in Drug Bust

Rice:  Rochford honored bogus or non-existent prescriptions for Vicodin and other meds

MINEOLA, NY – Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that a Hewlett pharmacist has been arrested and charged with selling pharmaceuticals, including the powerful painkiller Vicodin, to customers with bogus or non-existent prescriptions. 

Dubbed “Operation Feel Good,” Rice said the eight-month investigation into the pharmacy culminated in a pre-dawn raid and arrest of Robert Rochford, 53, of Long Beach.  Mr. Rochford’s pharmacy, Pen-Mill Pharmacy (NOB Pharmacy, Inc.), is located in the Peninsula Shopping Center, at 1336 Peninsula Boulevard.

“A pharmacist selling drugs that feed destructive addictions or underground criminal enterprises is no different than someone selling drugs to our children on the playground or the street corner,” said Rice.

Rice said her office, along with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, the Nassau County Police Department, and the New York State Office of Professional Discipline, were tipped off to the pharmacy while investigating another prescription drug ring.  The investigation into Pen-Mill relied heavily on a series of undercover drug purchases by Nassau County police department detectives assigned to the District Attorney’s Office.

The defendant has been charged with four counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Fourth Degree and two counts of Forgery in the Second Degree.  If convicted, Mr. Rochford faces a maximum of five and one-half years in prison for each sale count and seven years in prison for each count of forgery.

Mr. Rochford was arraigned this morning by Nassau County District Court Judge Edmund Dane.  Bail was set at $150,000 bond or $75,000 cash and the defendant was ordered to return to court October 29.  Assistant District Attorney Jane Zwirn-Turkin, of the DA’s Rackets Bureau, is handling the case for the District Attorney’s Office.  Mr. Rochford is being represented by Kenneth Paganini, Esq., of Atlantic Beach.