BOSTON - A Saugus man was convicted today in federal court of selling drugs at the VA Medical Center in Bedford, Mass.
David Porterfield, 44, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper to distribution of clonazepam. In 2011, Porterfield sold clonazepam to a cooperating witness and undercover federal agent at the VA Medical Center’s Bedford campus. The Center provides multiple services to veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, including alcohol and drug abuse/ addiction rehabilitation services.
Judge Casper scheduled sentencing for Sept. 13, 2012. Porterfield faces up to five years in prison to be followed by at least one year of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Jeffrey G. Hughes, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Office; Chief John C. Duffey of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Police Service, Bedford VA Medical Center; and Kevin L. Lane, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Boston Field Division made the announcement. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda P. M. Strachan of Ortiz’s Health Care Fraud Unit.
