This browser does not support the Video element.
MELROSE PARK, Ill. - Two suburban Chicago physicians were sentenced to federal prison last week for prescribing opioids to individuals who did not have a legitimate need for the drugs.
Stanley David Demorest, 67, of Bloomingdale, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of healthcare fraud and one count of unlawfully using another person's DEA registration number to dispense controlled substances.
Nicholas Recchia, 64, of River Grove, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of healthcare fraud.
According to prosecutors, Demorest managed Demorest Consultants LLC, which is a medical practice in Melrose Park, and Recchia was employed there as a physician.
From 2015 to 2020, Demorest and Recchia agreed to dispense hydrocodone, oxycodone, fentanyl and other controlled substances to individuals who visited the practice, but whom Demorest and Recchia knew had no legitimate medical need for them.
In some instances, Demorest, who voluntarily surrendered his DEA Registration Number in 2015 and lost his ability to lawfully prescribe controlled substances, used Recchia's name and DEA Registration Number to issue prescriptions for controlled substances to patients.
Additionally, Demorest and Recchia caused pharmacies to submit numerous claims to Medicare and Medicaid to seek payment for the prescriptions.
Both admitted that they dispensed controlled substances outside the usual course of medical practice and without a legitimate medical purpose, prosecutors said.
Last week, a judge sentenced Demorest to two years in federal prison and Recchia to six months in prison.