Office of the Attorney General: Burlington County Resident Sentenced to State Prison for Running Criminal Prescription Drug Ring

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

August 22, 2008

Contact: Division of Criminal Justice
609-292-4791


TRENTON - Attorney General Anne Milgram announced that a Burlington County woman was sentenced to state prison today for running a criminal prescription drug ring and filing fraudulent insurance claims.

According to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown, Joyce Sarte Fuller, 63, of Mount Laurel, was ordered by Superior Court Judge James J. Morley in Burlington County to serve 10 years in state prison and to pay $648 in restitution to Amerihealth. Fuller was also ordered to forfeit $3,090, which was seized during the execution of a search warrant at her former residence on May 17, 2004. The sentence was pursuant to Fuller’s guilty plea to attempted theft by deception, conspiracy to unlawfully sell controlled dangerous substances, and possession with intent to distribute controlled dangerous substances. The charges were contained in two separate state grand jury indictments returned on June 11, 2007.

At the July 3, 2008 guilty plea hearing, Fuller admitted that between April 28, 2002 and Aug. 26, 2003, she falsely reported to the Mount Laurel Police Department that she suffered a burglary at her home. Fuller subsequently submitted a fraudulent “Itemized Statement of Loss” to USAA Insurance Company detailing items that were falsely reported as stolen, including artwork, porcelain figurines and other items. The purported value of the items totaled $137,250.

Fuller also admitted that between Dec. 1, 2002 and March 17, 2004, she stole prescription pads from physicians’ offices. She admitted that she wrote false prescriptions for drugs, including controlled narcotic substances, and obtained the drugs from various pharmacies in and around the Mount Laurel area. An investigation determined that Fuller falsely submitted $648 in claims to Amerihealth for reimbursement for the drugs, knowing that she was not eligible to be reimbursed. Fuller also admitted that she sold more than an ounce of morphine.

Detective Scott Caponi, Civil Investigator Bud Fifield, and Deputy Attorneys General Lewis J. Korngut and Ronald Epstein were assigned to the investigation. Korngut represented the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor at the sentencing. The Mount Laurel and Moorestown Police Departments and USAA Insurance Company assisted in the investigation.