Uxbridge Doctor Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Distribute Adderall

BOSTON – An Uxbridge doctor pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiring to prescribe an amphetamine for reasons other than legitimate medical purposes.

Leslie Caraceni M.D., 58, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute Adderall and three counts of distributing and dispensing Adderall. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman scheduled sentencing for Dec. 15, 2020.

Caraceni was indicted in November 2018 with Rene Ruliera, 52, of Southborough, who pleaded guilty in August 2019 and is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 8, 2020. Co-conspirator Meghan Giacomuzzi, 37, of Whitinsville, pleaded guilty in February 2019 and is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 17, 2020.

Between March 2016 and February 2018, Caraceni, Ruliera and Giacomuzzi conspired to distribute Adderall, an amphetamine, for reasons other than for a legitimate medical purpose and not in the usual course of medical practice. Caraceni hired both Ruliera and Giacomuzzi to work at her medical practice in Framingham and later in Whitinsville, and enlisted both in a conspiracy to sell and distribute Adderall to individuals who had not been medically examined or given a clinical diagnosis to warrant a prescription. Office visitors met with either Ruliera or Giacomuzzi, discussed their desired prescription, paid for their office visit and left with a signed prescription for Adderall. Office visits lasted just minutes and each such visit cost approximately $200, payable in cash or through a credit card or debit card. Caraceni collected the cash from the office or received funds through deposits to her bank account.    

Caraceni provided Ruliera and Giacomuzzi with blank prescription pads and explained how to fill out prescriptions for sale. Electronic communications between Caraceni, Ruliera and Giacomuzzi documented Caraceni’s knowledge of the prescriptions written by Ruliera and Giacomuzzi, the number of office visitors seen in her absence and the profits resulting from their sale of prescriptions to those visitors. Between November 2015 and July 2018, records from the Massachusetts Prescription Monitoring Program show that well over 1,500 prescriptions for Adderall—amounting to over 110,000 pills—were filled in Massachusetts based on Caraceni’s prescriptions.  

Each charge provides a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Division; Uxbridge Police Chief Marc Montminy; and Southborough Police Chief Kenneth Paulhus made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Estes of Lelling’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the case.