Doctor’s Office Manager Sentenced for Selling Oxycodone Prescriptions

NORFOLK, Va. – A Virginia Beach woman was sentenced today to more than seven years in prison and ordered to pay a $34,500 forfeiture judgment for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute Oxycodone.

“Schemetti was forging prescriptions and selling them to a drug dealer,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “We will continue to prosecute medical staff and doctors who betray the public’s trust in the medical profession by engaging in illegal drug diversion.”

According to court documents, Jessica L. Schemetti, 34, was working at a medical practice in Virginia Beach. In December 2016, Schemetti began forging prescriptions and by March 2017 she was selling those forged prescriptions to another Virginia Beach drug dealer for $500 per prescription. The Virginia Beach drug dealer supplied Schemetti with names to use on the prescriptions. By August 2017, the doctor became aware of Schemetti’s forgeries, but was dishonest with law enforcement when confronted in order to cover for Schemetti. The doctor, Jim-David Gaglione, was also prosecuted. Schemetti continued to write these prescriptions in exchange for payment into early 2018. In all, Schemetti wrote prescriptions for over 5,000 Oxycodone pills, over 4,000 amphetamine pills, and over 500 Xanax pills.

The doctor, Jim-David Gaglione, pleaded guilty to distribution of amphetamine and was sentenced to two and half years in prison in November 2018.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Jesse R. Fong, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Field Division, and James A. Cervera, Chief of Virginia Beach Police, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Hudson prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:19-cr-1.