Three Pittsburgh Residents Charged in Forged Prescription Ring

PITTSBURGH – Three residents of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, charged in forged prescription ring, have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges including conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, possession with intent to distribute and distribute Oxycodone, obtaining a controlled substance through fraud, health care fraud, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribute Oxycodone and aggravated identity theft, Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song announced today.

The seven-count indictment named Barry Lee Dorsey, II, 26, Tyesha Renee Dorsey, 25, and Zachary Edward Rathke, 26, as defendants.

According to the indictment, the defendants operated a forged prescription ring. Prescriptions were forged with the names, DEA numbers, medical license numbers, and signatures of real medical doctors. The prescriptions, most of which were forged for Oxycodone and Percocet, were filled at a large number of Western Pennsylvania pharmacies and primarily paid for with Medicaid funds. The fraudulently obtained prescription pills were then sold on the street for substantial profit.

John P. Benson, CEO of Verisys Corporation said, “Without the widespread use of tools such as Verisys’ PrescriberCheck and ProviderCheck that help pharmacies prevent these fraudulent actions, these actions will continue to be found many millions of dollars after the fact.”

The law provides for a maximum total sentence of 61 years in prison, a fine of $3,000,000 or both for the charges pending against Barry Lee Dorsey, II. The law provides for a maximum total sentence of 25 years in prison, a fine of $1,250,000 or both for the charges pending against Tyesha Renee Dorsey and Zachary Edward Rathke. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Assistant United States Attorney Robert S. Cessar is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, Brentwood Police Department, Mt. Pleasant Police Department and Bellevue Police Department conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case.

An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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