Swanton Woman Sentenced for Prescription Fraud and Embezzlement Scheme and Ordered to Pay $71,942.60 in Restitution

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Lindsey Cox, 37, of Swanton, Vermont, was sentenced on December 20, 2021 in United States District Court in Burlington, Vermont.  Cox previously had pleaded guilty to conspiring to acquire controlled substances by fraud and theft in connection with healthcare.

United States District Judge Christina Reiss imposed a sentence of five years of probation to run concurrently on each count and ordered Cox to pay restitution to her former employer in the amount of $71,942.60.

According to Court records, Cox formerly was an employee at a dental practice in St. Albans, Vermont.  Between April and November 2016, Cox conspired with another employee to generate fake prescriptions for controlled substances and forge the signature of a licensed prescriber.  Cox and others then filled the fake prescriptions - which typically were for Oxycodone - at several area pharmacies.  In total, investigators identified 46 fake prescriptions.  In addition, between May 2016 and August 2017, Cox embezzled $71,942.60 from her employer by manipulating and falsifying payment records in the dental practice’s billing software.  

The Drug Enforcement Administration and the St. Albans Police Department investigated this case, together with the U.S. Border Patrol and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department.  United States Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest commended the efforts of the Drug Enforcement Administration and other law enforcement agencies and, in particular, the work of the DEA’s drug diversion investigation as well as the St. Albans Police Department’s work to uncover Cox’s embezzlement.

Cox was represented by Assistant Federal Defender David L. McColgin.  The prosecutor was Assistant United States Attorney John J. Boscia.