Former Registered Nurse Receives 30 Months for Distribution of Opioids, Health Care Fraud, Aggravated Identity Theft, and Obstruction of Justice

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Sarah Brown, age 42, of Akra, Greene County, New York, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for unlawfully distributing opioids, for impersonating patients of a co-conspirator and defrauding insurance companies as part of the opioids distribution scheme, and for attempting to obstruct the investigation into her criminal activities.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Special Agent in Charge Ray Donovan, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), New York Division.

As part of her September 4, 2019 guilty plea, Brown, a former registered nurse, admitted that between 2015 and 2017, she worked with a co-conspirator, Dr. Myra Mabry, to obtain prescriptions for oxycodone, morphine, and hydromorphone, for no legitimate medical purpose, by impersonating Mabry’s patients at pharmacies, knowing that health care benefit programs would pay the cost of the drugs.

Brown also admitted that she attempted to obstruct a federal investigation by testifying falsely before a federal grand jury that she was blackmailing Mabry into providing the prescriptions.  As Brown admitted in her guilty plea, that was a lie, because Mabry was not the subject of an extortionate scheme, and was a willing member of the conspiracy to distribute opioids for no legitimate medical purpose.  Brown admitted that Mabry agreed to pay Brown for the false testimony in the hope of minimizing Mabry’s criminal exposure and keeping her medical license.

United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino also sentenced Brown to 3 years of supervised release, to be served following her release from prison.

Mabry, age 50, of Catskill, New York, pled guilty to conspiring to distribute controlled substances, health care fraud, aggravated identity theft, and obstruction of justice.  She was sentenced to 54 months in prison earlier this month.

This case was investigated by the DEA, with assistance from the New York Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne A. Myers.