2003-04-15 -- Okoye, Godwin and Patrick Okoye -- Sentencing -- News Release

Brothers Sentenced to Prison for Marketing Illegal Pharmaceuticals, Defrauding Medicaid and Tax Evasion

TRENTON - Two pharmacists were sentenced to federal prison terms today in connection with a conspiracy to distribute illegal pharmaceuticals, defrauding the Medicaid system, obstruction of justice and filing false tax returns, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson sentenced Godwin Okoye, 41, currently of Forrestville, Maryland, to a 41-month prison term, and Patrick Okoye, 32, currently of Walden, New York, to 24 months in prison. Judge Thompson also ordered the brothers to serve three years of supervised release upon the completion of their prison terms and to pay restitution for the money defrauded from Medicaid. Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Under Sentencing Guidelines, defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all of that time.

During the time period of the scheme, from August 1995 through December 1999, Godwin was a resident of Jersey City and Patrick a resident of Irvington.

On July 9, 2002, Godwin Okoye pleaded guilty to Count One and Count Seven of an 11-count Superseding Indictment; Patrick Okoye pleaded guilty to Count One and Count Nine of the same Indictment. Count One charged conspiracy to engage in the wholesale distribution of prescription drugs without a license and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Counts Seven and Nine charged Godwin and Patrick with subscribing to false tax returns. At the plea hearing Godwin also admitted to obstructing justice, according to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Norville McAndrew and Marc Phillip Ferzan.

According to the Superseding Indictment, both defendants were involved in an underground distribution scheme for prescription drugs that was under investigation for more than three years by Special Agents of the FBI, IRS and FDA. The case against the Okoye brothers was a spin-off of related cases involving other pharmacists and co-conspirators who either pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial. Those cases involved millions of dollars in Medicaid losses.

The Superseding Indictment alleged that the total fraud the Okoyes were accountable for more than of $794,000.

The Okoyes admitted at their plea hearing that the objective of the conspiracy was to profit from the purchase and sale of diverted pharmaceuticals, to defraud Medicaid and to conceal their illegal activities. A diverted pharmaceutical is a prescription drug that has been illegally obtained outside the normal course of distribution from licensed wholesalers and then reintroduced into the stream of commerce for sale to the public .

The brothers admitted that beginning in 1995 they agreed with others to purchase diverted prescription drugs from Morris Earl Dicker, a/k/a/ "Foots" and others. They acknowledged that Dicker was not a licensed wholesaler of pharmaceuticals. The brothers then would resell those medications to Phillip Azu, a licensed pharmacist and owner of Goodwill Pharmacy in Irvington. The defendants admitted paying cash to Dicker in exchange for the diverted prescription drugs, which were purchased at deep discounts from Dicker and a network of people working for him.

Dicker pleaded guilty to federal and state charges, and his serving his state sentence at Rahway State Correction Facility. Azu was convicted at trial and served a 54-month sentence in federal prison. He is currently on supervised release.

The brothers admitted that they received the following prescription drugs from Dicker and others during the course of the conspiracy: Diflucan, Mevacor, Biaxin, Zantac, Cipro, Propulsid, Zovirax, Procardia XL, Retrovir and Augmentin.

Godwin admitted that in 1995 he incorporated Pharmogen Consultants, in Jersey City. He admitted that the purpose of the corporation was to act as a vehicle to sell diverted pharmaceuticals to other pharmacies. Godwin admitted that in response to a grand jury subpoena he also prepared fraudulent documents in the name of Pharmogen in an attempt to conceal the sale of diverted pharmaceuticals to co-conspirator Azu and others.

The brothers also admitted that in April 1996 they opened a pharmacy called Healthcore in New Brunswick. The defendants admitted that they filled fake prescriptions brought in by Dicker and others working for him, and then submitted claims to Medicaid for payment. They admitted receiving approximately $65,000 from Medicaid via electronic transfer as payment for the fake prescriptions filled by Healthcore Pharmacy for delivery to Dicker's network, then repurchased the drugs from Dicker at "underground" prices.

Godwin Okoye also admitted filing a 1995 personal income tax return in which he failed to claim approximately $220,049 in gross income received from the sale of diverted prescription medications and the Medicaid scheme. Patrick Okoye admitted filing a 1995 personal income tax return in which he failed to claim approximately $43,551 in gross income from the schemes.

Godwin, a licensed pharmacist at the time of the scheme, has since obtained a medical doctors degree and is now a research fellow at John Hopkins University in Baltimore. Patrick, also a licensed pharmacist at the time of the scheme, is currently a supervisor managing an assembly line for a pharmaceutical company.

Christie credited Special Agents of the Newark Division of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Louie F. Allen; Special Agents of the IRS Criminal Investigation section in Newark, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Anne D. Fahy; and the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigation, New York Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge G.S. McGee, with conducting the investigation into Medicaid fraud.

The Government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Phillip Ferzan of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Camden, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Norville McAndrew of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Trenton.

-end-

Defense Counsel:

Godwin Okoye - Lawrence Lustberg, Esq. - Newark

Patrick Okoye - Bruce S. Rosen, Esq. - Chatham