Rochester Man Sentenced For Drug And Health Care Fraud Offenses

CONTACT:    Barbara Burns    
PHONE:       (716) 843-5817
FAX:          (716) 551-3051
                                     
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Michael Marcera, Sr., 57, of Rochester, NY, who was convicted of conspiracy to possess oxycodone with the intent to distribute and health care fraud, was sentenced to time served (97 months in prison) by U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa. The defendant was also ordered to pay restitution totaling $216,000 to Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, New York State Workers Compensation [ACE ESIS Inc.], Preferred Care and Allstate Insurance Company.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank H. Sherman, who handled the case, stated that between January 2003 and February 2007, the defendant participated in a criminal scheme with others to obtain from a medical doctor prescriptions for oxycodone, a controlled substance, by representing to the medical doctor that the medication was medically necessary, while knowing that the medication, in fact, was not medically necessary. After obtaining the prescriptions from the medical doctor, Marcera and others had each prescription filled at a pharmacy and then sold the medications for profit. The victim health care benefits programs (Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, New York State Workers Compensation [ACE ESIS Inc.], Preferred Care and Allstate Insurance Company) reimbursed the pharmacies for the costs associated with the filling of the fraudulent prescriptions.

The sentence is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Shantelle P. Kitchen, Special Agent in Charge, New York Field Office, and the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Thomas F. O’Donnell, as well as Investigators from the New York State Insurance Department's Frauds Bureau, under the direction of Frank Orlando.