Two People Sentenced To 30 Months In Prison For Roles In Conspiracy To Distribute Oxycodone

CAMDEN, N.J. – A Camden County, New Jersey, man and a Philadelphia man were each sentenced today to 30 months in prison for their respective roles in conspiring to distribute oxycodone, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Prussia Hing, 36, of Philadelphia, and Anthony Pepe, 42, of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Jerome B. Simandle to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone. U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler, who was assigned the case following the subsequent passing of Judge Simandle, imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court.

The defendants were charged in connection with one of the largest national healthcare fraud and opioid enforcement actions ever taken by the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From December 2017 through June 26, 2018, the defendants and others engaged in a conspiracy which resulted in the trafficking of 1,180 oxycodone pills – 680 of which were unadulterated oxycodone and 500 of which were pressed pills mixed with hydrocodone, codeine, and methylphenidate. Hing was a source of the supply. As part of the investigation, law enforcement observed eight controlled purchases, three of which were carried out by the defendants, including Pepe, dressed in his hospital scrubs in front of the major Philadelphia hospital where he was employed as the chief surgical technologist.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Kugler sentenced each defendant to three years of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office, South Jersey Resident Agency, both under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael Harpster in Philadelphia; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert, and the Camden County Police Department, under the direction of Chief Joseph D. Wysocki, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencings.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christina O. Hud and Diana Vondra Carrig of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Camden.

Defense counsel:
Pepe: Rocco Cipparone Esq., Haddon Heights, New Jersey
Hing: Gregory Pagano Esq., Philadelphia