Anchorage Man Indicted on 36 Counts of Prescription Fraud and Forgery

FEB 23 -- (Anchorage, AK) – DEA Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Arnold R. Moorin and the United States Attorney for the District of Alaska, Nelson P. Cohen, announced that on February 18, 2009, Stephen M. Young, 32, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Anchorage on 36 counts of fraudulently obtaining, via prescriptions, narcotic controlled substances, including one count of forging a prescription.

According to the indictment, it is alleged that Young fraudulently obtained narcotic controlled substances (pain medication) from multiple physicians, dentists and an advanced nurse practitioner. Young is alleged to have lied to several of these health care professionals concerning whether he was already taking narcotic pain medication or where earlier medical procedures actually took place in order to obtain multiple prescriptions for narcotic pain medication. Young also told health care providers on various occasions that his father and two brothers had been killed in a traffic accident, that his wife’s grandmother had died, and that he had to hurry to get to the hospital because his wife was having a baby, all of which were false, to induce the health care providers to quickly prescribe his requested narcotics. He is also charged in one count of forging a prescription to increase the prescribed dosage amount of a narcotic controlled substance. Young faces a maximum sentence of four years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both for each count.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Office of the Inspector General and the Office of Personnel Management.